PM helps out in Windies dispute

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados: Grenada's prime minister called a meeting for Monday in an effort to resolve a contract dispute that would prevent West Indies captain Brian Lara and other top cricketers from playing in the home series against South Africa and Pakistan.

Saturday's announcement by Grenadian Prime Minister Keith Mitchell came a day after the West Indies Cricket Board said that Lara, Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Dwayne Bravo, Fidel Edwards, Ravi Rampaul and Dwayne Smith would be not considered for selection because of their existing personal sponsorship contracts with Cable and Wireless, a competitor of the board's title sponsor, Digicel.

"There are some reasonable proposals put forward, so that can lead to some kind of compromise solution," said Mitchell, who is chairman of the Caribbean Community's subcommittee on cricket. "There must be give and take on the part of everyone concerned."

-- AP