Bridgetown: Brian Lara and other top West Indies players have ruled themselves out of consideration for January?s tri-series in Australia due to a contract dispute, board officials said on Wednesday. Players had until Tuesday night to sign an invitational contract for the series, also featuring Pakistan and Australia, and a training camp in Barbados that begins on Monday.

?The players who did not accept the invitation ruled themselves out of consideration for this tour,? the WICB said. ?This does not prevent them from being considered in the future should they merit inclusion.?

Captain Lara was among a core group of senior players holding an emergency meeting with the West Indies Players Association at Trinidad hotel, a source said. The source said others who had not signed include Dwayne Bravo, Mervyn Dillon, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Chris Gayle, Courtney Browne, Corey Collymore, Pedro Collins and Marlon Samuel.

The main dispute involves as many as 10 senior players who have sponsorship deals with Cable and Wireless, a telecommunications competitor of Digicel, which recently signed a multimillion dollar sponsorship deal with the WICB. According to the WICB, the players were barred from endorsing ?a competitor of a WICB major sponsor unless he has a pre-existing agreement with such a competitor that was approved in writing by the WICB.?

The WICB and the West Indies Players Association finished almost 18 hours of talks last week without a resolution. The board said the two sides had discussed possible compensation for players required to give up individual endorsement deals. The compensation could come in the form of ?advertisements and personal appearances on behalf of the major sponsor,? WICB said. (AP)