Dispute could cost Lara

Brian Lara and other West Indies cricket stars are unlikely to travel to Australia for a one-day international series as a result of a controversy surrounding rival sponsors.

West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) selectors were to meet Wednesday to nominate new players to the squad after only nine of 25 requested players agreed to join the squad by Tuesday night's deadline.

Protesting players were set to meet Wednesday with West Indies Players Association (WIPA) president Dinanath Ramnarine in Trinidad and Tobago, according to The Nation newspaper of Bridgetown, Barbados.

The West Indies team is scheduled to begin training camp for the Aussie tour on Monday in Barbados, but the sponsorship dispute could make the assembled squad far from the finest from a region that will host the 2007 World Cup.

WICB chief executive Roger Braithwaite said Tuesday the rejections were regrettable.

At the heart of the matter are conflicts between WICB sponsors and those of individual players.

Irish telephone company Digicel signed a 20 million-dollar contract for five years with the WICB after a long sponsorship deal with rival British telecommunications firm Cable and Wireless ended earlier this year.

Some players have individual contracts with Cable and Wireless, including Lara, and a clause in the WICB contract for accepting a position on a West Indies team requires players do nothing to endorse a WICB sponsor competitor without prior WICB approval.

Meanwhile, Ricky Ponting has said he would be disappointed if senior West Indies players like Lara did not join the team's one-day series tour of Australia in January.

"That would be disappointing, yeah. You want to be playing against the best teams you can, all across the world," the Australian captain told a news conference in Adelaide.

"All of that is out of our control. Hopefully it is resolved and they will be sending their full-strength team," Ponting added.

"If they're deciding or thinking about not touring here then it's obviously a serious issue."

Lara and several senior team mates look set to miss the triangular series, which also includes Pakistan, starting in Melbourne on January 14.

Players not to have accepted the invitation had ruled themselves out of consideration for January's tour, the WICB said.

However, it added: "This does not prevent them from being considered in the future should they merit inclusion."

The row echoes the dispute which affected the Indian team before last year's World Cup.

Cricket Australia (CA) chief executive James Sutherland released a statement saying the Windies were obligated to tour Australia in January.

"We would hope that the West Indies and their players can resolve their issues," Sutherland said.

"The West Indies have an obligation to tour Australia and our expectation is that we will host them in January," he added.

"Our view also is that international cricket should be about the best playing the best.

"The issue is a matter for the West Indies board and its players to resolve."

Australia's Test series against New Zealand concludes with the second and final match in Adelaide starting on Friday, to be followed by a three-match limited overs series against the same opposition.

Pakistan will then arrive in Australia for a three-Test series prior to the triangular tournament.