Former Attorney General Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj has called on Prime Minister Patrick Manning to take the initiative along with other Caricom governments to buy out the Cable & Wireless contracts of star West Indies cricketers to enable the regional team to field the best players for the South African and Pakistan series.

He said one option was to divert funds from the inoperable Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), “since the CCJ would be little more than a white elephant.”

“No true West Indies team can take the field without the best batsman in the world, Brian Lara, and other key players such as Ramnaresh Sarwan and Chris Gayle.

“The Caribbean Governments should ensure that the best team plays in the upcoming series.

“It reflects the impotency of the Trinidad and Tobago Government to lead by example. Cricket is too important an institution for the people of the Caribbean for it to be allowed to reach such shambles,” he told members of the Movement for Social Transformation yesterday at Valencia.

He said West Indian governments have already pledged investments of hundreds of millions of dollars to guarantee the 2007 World Cup in the region and should take proactive steps to put the team back on the right course.