Top West Indies players to miss Champions Trophy

Bridgetown (Barbados), July 25 : The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Saturday said they will stick to the original 30-man squad for the Champions Trophy despite the availability of their frontline players following a truce between the board and the players association.

West Indies' top players had refused to play in the just concluded two-Test series against Bangladesh in a dispute with the WICB over pay and contract issues.

Skipper Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Dwayne Bravo, Dwayne Smith are among the star players who will be missing the action in Champions Trophy.

The bulk of the squad comprises the players who contested the Bangladesh series, and the West Indies selectors have also drafted in several other players with little experience to complete the list.

'The executive committee of the WICB wishes to confirm the initial squad of 30 players announced earlier this month for the ICC's Champions Trophy in South Africa,' a board statement said.

'This squad was chosen from among those players who declared themselves available for selection for the tournament within the deadline date for finalisation of the 30.'

Fast bowler Fidel Edwards, recently axed pacer Daren Powell, and Devon Smith were the only top tier players to be named in the provisional squad.

Edwards was unavailable for the Bangladesh series through injury while Powell was dropped after England's tour of the Caribbean earlier this year.

The Champions Trophy is scheduled for South Africa Sep 22-Oct 5.

Squad: Ryan Austin, Christopher Barnwell, David Bernard, Tino Best, Royston Crandon, Romel Currency, Travis Dowlin, Fidel Edwards, Rayad Emrit, Andre Fletcher, Ryan Hinds, Leon Johnson, Anthony Martin, Kevin McClean, Nikita Miller, Nelon Pascal, Brenton Parchment, Omar Phillips, Daren Powell, Kieran Powell, Floyd Reifer, Dale Richards, Kemar Roach, Darren Sammy, Shane Shillingford, Devon Smith, Kevin Stoute, Devon Thomas, Gavin Tonge, Chadwick Walton.