Agence France Presse

St John’s, March 20:

A contract dispute has led to star batsman and skipper Brian Lara being ommitted from the 14-strong West Indies squad named for the first Test against South Africa in Guyana from March 31. A statement from the West Indies Cricket Board said that Lara had given a non-committal response to its invitation to make himself available for the match, in which he neither accepted nor rejected the invitation. “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,” the WICB statement said. “In the circumstances the Board has decided that Lara not be included in the team for the first Test.” Six other top players with personal endorsement contracts have also been left out. They are Ramnaresh Sarwan, Chris Gayle, Fidel Edwards, Dwayne Bravo, Dwayne Smith and Ravi Rampaul. Shivnarine Chanderpaul will lead in Lara’s absence. The squad will go into camp on March 23 and leave for Guyana on March 28.

SQUAD: Shivnarine Chanderpaul (captain), Courtney Browne (vice captain), Wavell Hinds, Devon Smith, Donavon Pagon, Narsingh Deonarine, Daren Ganga, Ryan Hinds, Corey Collymore, Pedro Collins, Dwight Washington, Daren Powell, Jerome Taylor, Reon King.