Captain Brian Lara has been omitted from the West Indies team for the first cricket Test against South Africa later this month, the latest development in a four-month feud over sponsorship contracts.
The West Indies Cricket Board said late on Saturday night that it shut out Lara after he gave ”a noncommittal response” to an invitation to make himself available to play in the Test, starting on March 31 in Guyana.
The board suggested Lara agreed to participate only if others involved in the dispute were allowed to play.
”Brian Lara gave a noncommittal response to the West Indies Cricket Board’s invitation to make himself available for the match, in which he neither accepted nor rejected the invitation,” the board said.
”In his response, Lara put a proposition to the board that could not have been entertained because it would require players to be selected on the team who were ineligible due to the nature of their personal endorsement contracts.
”In the circumstances, the board has decided that Lara not be included in the team for the first Test,” the board added.
Lara, the 35-year-old veteran of 112 Tests, and six other players were initially deemed ineligible for selection because of their endorsement contracts with Cable & Wireless, a competitor of official West Indies sponsor Digicel.
The board, however, invited Lara to make himself available on Friday, saying his contract differs from the other six because it was ”entered into with the constructive knowledge of the board and with its blessing”.
The other six players — Dwayne Bravo, Fidel Edwards, Chris Gayle, Ravi Rampaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Dwayne Smith — are still prohibited from playing.
The cricket board’s decision came despite pressure from Grenadian Prime Minister Keith Mitchell and other Caribbean leaders to include the seven players.
Mitchell, who is also the chairperson of the Caribbean Community’s subcommittee on cricket, has been trying to mediate a solution to the crisis for months.
Lara’s absence is the latest setback for the West Indies, who have dropped to third-to-last in the International Cricket Council rankings, above only Zimbabwe and Bangladesh.
The West Indies have struggled to climb back to the dominant position it held in world cricket during the 1980s.
In Lara’s 40 Tests as captain, the West Indies lost 23, won 10 and drew seven. Lara has scored 26 Test centuries, a West Indies record he shares with Sir Garfield Sobers.
No one answered the phone on Sunday at Lara’s home in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad.
Dinanath Ramnarine, the president of the West Indies Players’ Association, declined to comment, saying he was waiting for Lara’s response.
Shivnarine Chanderpaul (30) will replace Lara as captain, the board said. The left-handed batsman is a veteran of 80 Tests in a career that started in 1994.
The other players chosen were: Courtney Browne, Pedro Collins, Corey Collymore, Narsingh Deonarine, Daren Ganga, Ryan Hinds, Wavell Hinds, Reon King, Donovan Pagon, Darren Powell, Devon Smith, Jerome Taylor and Dwight Washington. — Sapa-AP