West Indies drop Lara, Sarwan

West Indies have named a squad shorn of several leading players for their July tour of Sri Lanka as a result of the contract dispute dogging the sport in the islands.

Leading batsmen Brian Lara, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Chris Gayle were omitted from the 14-man squad named on Friday, although captain Shivnarine Chanderpaul will travel for the two Tests and a one day-series also involving India.

Eight of the squad are currently in Sri Lanka with the West Indies A team.

After discussions between the West Indies Cricket (WICB) Board and the West Indies Players' Association (WIPA) broke down on the issue of the sponsorship guarantee fees, the WICB named a squad from those who had agreed to sign the contracts offered.

"We did everything in our power to conclude these negotiations but unfortunately the Players' Association found almost all suggested meeting dates inconvenient," said Roger Braithwaite, chief executive officer of the WICB.

"We have a responsibility to Sri Lanka, India and the ICC to honour the agreement for this Test Series and one-day international triangular contest and we will do all in our power to meet that commitment."

Explaining the WICB's case, Braithwaite said: "A relatively junior player could... earn approximately $32,000 over the six weeks of the tour if the team is successful while a senior player could earn US 40,000."

A similar showdown between players and the board was settled shortly before the West Indies' one-day series in Australia at the start of the year but reared up again in March before the home Test and one-day series against South Africa.

Lara, Sarwan and Gayle were among a group of players left out of the team for the first Test against South Africa after a row over a clash between their personal sponsors and the main team and tour sponsor.

West Indies squad: Shivnarine Chanderpaul (captain), Denesh Ramdin, Daren Powell, Omari Banks, Kerry Jeremy, Deighton Butler, Sylvester Joseph, Narsingh Deonarine, Dwayne Smith, Tino Best, Jermaine Lawson, Xavier Marshall, Runako Morton, Ryan Ramdass.