Crucial meeting could decide dispute's fate

The immediate future of the seven West Indian players, including Brian Lara and Ramnaresh Sarwan, who have been dropped over a sponsorship dispute, depends on a high-level meeting later today to be chaired by Keith Mitchell, the prime minister of Grenada, who is also the head of the sub-committee appointed to resolve the crisis.

The meeting, to be held in St George's, the capital of Grenada, will attended by the members of West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), the West Indian Players Association (WIPA), and representatives of the two rival mobile phone companies, Digicel, the team sponsor, and Cable & Wireless.

At the heart of dispute is the alleged ambush marketing by Cable & Wireless which has personal endorsement deals with Lara, Sarwan, Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Fidel Edwards Dwayne Smith and Ravi Rampaul.

Mitchell has already termed the action against the seven players "unfortunate and premature" and Lara has issued a long personal statement in which he has said the matter can be resolved with a spirit of "give and take".

The West Indian selectors yesterday announced a squad of 22, excluding the seven players listed above, for the forthcoming series against South Africa and Pakistan with the condition that sign a fresh contract with the board. However, how many will actually sign the contract may depend on the outcome of today's meeting. When a similar camp was announced before West Indies' tour to Australia last Januray, 18 of the 25 players refused sign the contact, objecting to certain clauses relating to personal endorsements.

The team finally made to it Australia after a compromise was brokered through Mitchell. But it was always likely to be an uneasy truce.