WI Cricket in woes yet again!

Lara, 36, the holder of both the Test (400) and First Class (501) batting records needs just 356 more runs to become the man to score the most runs in the history of Test cricket.

Minister of Sport, Roger Boynes, cited high among his concerns the fact that "West Indies cricket icon Brian Lara, who is on the verge of sporting immortality, is barred from participating in Test cricket at this stage of his brilliant career".

His personal view, "on the basis of practice in entertainment and copyright law," was that "like David Beckham and other international superstar athletes, one can hold a personal endorsement contract without jeopardising the team's sponsorship contract. I would assume that our West Indies players are no different and would enjoy similar universal rights."

Last week after contract negotiations between the WICB and WIPA broke down, the WICB announced a makeshift team for the tour of Sri Lanka that left out mainstays, Lara, Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Wavell Hinds and Corey Collymore among others.

If only some common sense could prevail on the part of the selectors and sponsors now!