No let up in West Indies dispute

The ongoing crisis dogging West Indies cricket looks set to continue as each telecommunications company has turned down a possible solution.

Cable and Wireless continues to refuse to release any of its seven contracted players for Test duty, while Digicel has turned down an offer from a financial company to buy out its five-year US$20million contract with the West Indies board (WICB).

A spokesperson for C&W, Rachelle Franklin, told the Sunday Sun, a Caribbean newspaper, that the release of their seven players - including Brian Lara - was not an option they were considering at present. "Anything is an option and anything is possible," said Franklin, "but it is not an option we are looking to pursue." Their contracted players have been dropped from West Indies' team because of their deals with the company.

All but one of the 14 players actually selected for the first Test against South Africa which starts on Thursday have signed. Jerome Taylor was due to sign the contract but he has been ruled out with a back injury.

"The revealing of some terms of the Digicel and WICB contract really unveiled what is at the heart of the issue," Franklin continued, "and that there is a contract that the WICB really can't deliver on and a contract that came into play after we did all of our players' sponsorships."

But Franklin stressed that C&W was prepared to come to a compromise for the sake of the game."We fundamentally believe that these contracts are not in conflict with the master contract and that they can live side-by-side. If all the parties involved believe that to be true, then I think we can come to a quick resolution."

Digicel's spokesperson, meanwhile, confirmed that it will continue to sponsor the game, after speaking to C.L. Financial, the company which offered the buy-out: "Digicel has spoken with C.L. Financial," said Maureen Rabbitt, "and communicated to them that [it] has always been and remains committed to providing the necessary resources to help grow West Indies cricket."