ST. JOHN'S, Antigua, CMC:
THE WEST Indies World Cup cricket squad declined participating in a scheduled media event yesterday because they are disgruntled over their take in the team sponsorship for the tournament.
Steel producers LNM Group was named official team sponsor earlier yesterday for the West Indies team to the 2003 World Cup cricket tournament starting next month.
West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Chief Cricket Operations Officer Michael Hall read a statement to reporters who had turned up for the 2.00 p.m. Eastern Caribbean Time media access session with the team, that the session was cancelled.
"The members of the West Indies cricket team declined to take part in today's media access session," Hall said.
"They have expressed dissatisfaction with the WICB's proposal for the sharing of the recently acquired sponsorship for the team to the cricket World Cup 2003.
"You will be aware that this morning the West Indies Cricket Board and the LNM Group through its T&T based subsidiary ISPAT, signed an agreement to sponsor the team to the World Cup."
Hall, who declined taking questions from the press, added that "the final agreement for the sponsorship was only reached last week".
The WICB's acting Chief Executive Officer Roger Brathwaite was expected to meet the players and West Indies Players' Association (WIPA) president Dinanath Ramnarine last night after returning from Trinidad where the sponsorship launch was held.
Hall also said all players had signed the player terms for the tournament, which have been submitted to the International Cricket Council (ICC) ahead of the deadline, and he was "not sure" this development "means anything negative about the team's participation in the World Cup".
The squad is in the middle of a two-week camp, preparing for the World Cup, which they open on February 9 against hosts South Africa.
