Lara at the helm, Chanders his deputy

BRIDGETOWN: The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) on Friday named a 14-player squad for next month’s VB triangular one-day tournament in Australia, after weeks of squabbling over a contract dispute that delayed the anouncement. The team is headed by coach Bennett King and captain Brian Lara, one of several players whose endorsement deals with Cable & Wireless is at the centre of the contract dispute. Cable & Wireless is a competitor of the WICB’s official sponsor, Digicel.

Ramnaresh Sarwan lost his post as vice-captain to the more experienced Shivnarine Chanderpaul, and Jamaican Xavier Marshall, an 18-year-old right-handed batsman, is the only newcomer. Fellow Jamaican batting talent, Marlon Samuels, is also included after spending a year recovering from a fourth knee operation, replacing hard-hitting middle order batsman Ricardo Powell. There are other changes from the West Indies team that lifted the ICC Champions Trophy in England last September — pacer Corey Collymore, all-rounder Darren Sammy and batsman Sylvester Joseph were left out, and left-armer Pedro Collins and fellow pacer Reon King were recalled after long absences from international competition.

They leave on December 29 for a one-day tournament against Australia and Pakistan. The WICB said there were several unresolved issues in its dispute with the West Indies Players Association (WIPA). But the issues have been put aside to save the Australia tour, the WICB said. On Wednesday, both sides accepted an arbiter’s ruling on whether individual players can sign endorsement deals with competitors of the WICB’s official sponsor. Officials, however, have refused to disclose Justice Adrian Saunders’ decision. Last week, WIPA president Dinanath Ramnarine claimed Saunders made a ruling that “endorsed WIPA’s position that the players are entitled to sign individual endorsement contracts with companies which rival those of the board.” However, the board criticised Ramnarine’s “attempts to characterise the judgment of the independent arbiter in a manner favourable to the WIPA.” The board did not deny Ramnarine’s statement outright.

TEAM: Brian Lara (capt), Shivnarine Chanderpaul (vice-capt), Chris Gayle, Wavell Hinds, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Marlon Samuels, Dwayne Bravo, Xavier Marshall, Ryan Hinds, Courtney Browne, Ian Bradshaw, Pedro Collins, Mervyn Dillon, Reon King.
Manager: Tony Howard. Coach: Bennett King. Assistant coach: David Moore.