C&W: No Word from Sarwan, Gayle

Thu, Mar 31, '05

Cable & Wireless late Wednesday said it had not received any communication from Ramnaresh Sarwan and Chris Gayle regarding the reported termination of their private endorsement deals.

A report on Wisden Cricinfo said the termination notice was faxed the phone company but, in a statement, C&W was it was "working to separate fact from fiction."

has confirmed that Cable & Wireless has been in contact in recent weeks with an attorney representing the two West Indies batsmen to discuss the possibility of terminating the contracts.

Omari Banks, the Anguillan off-spinner who also inked a sponsorship deal with Cable & Wireless, has also opted out of that contract.

In a statement, C&W said it supported the latest proposal from the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) for a further contractual review by Caricom Justice Adrian Saunders.

The WICB wants Justice Saunders to issue a binding "to determine whether the personal endorsement contracts were unquestionably in the nature of individual contracts and contained no provisions, which could be construed as passing off by the Player of his connection with the West Indies team by attribution or by defining himself as a member of the team."

C&W said a new arbitrator's ruling and the cooperation of all involved parties could produce a resolution to:

• Allow the West Indies to field the best possible team

• Reaffirm the rights of players to have personal endorsement contracts, and

• Provide for the protection of the investment of team and player sponsors.