BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (AP) - The West Indies Players Association criticised managers yesterday for shutting out captain Brian Lara and six other players from the first cricket Test against South Africa later this month, the latest development in a feud over sponsorship contracts. Dinanath Ramnarine, the president of the players' association, urged the West Indies Cricket Board to reconsider its decision "so that the best team is selected while legal argumentation regarding the contracts ... take their course." Ramnarine warned that players may take tougher actions if the board did not reconsider, though he was vague about what steps those could be. Players may have "no other alternative but to take such actions as may be necessary to protect our members' rights and the interest of West Indies cricket," he said. "We trust that it does not come to this and good sense prevails on the part of the board." "The players and their career, and the hopes and aspirations of Caribbean people, should not be made scapegoats in this issue," Ramnarine added. The cricket board announced late Saturday night that Lara had been omitted because he gave "a noncommittal response" to an invitation to make himself available to play in the Test, which starts March 31 in Guyana. Lara, a 35 year-old veteran of 112 Tests, and six other players were initially deemed ineligible for selection because of their endorsement contracts with Cable & Wireless, a competitor of official West Indies sponsor Digicel. The board, however, last week lifted the ban on Lara, saying his contract differed from the other six because it was "entered into with the constructive knowledge of the board and with its blessing." The other six players - Dwayne Bravo, Fidel Edwards, Chris Gayle, Ravi Rampaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Dwayne Smith - were still prohibited from playing. The board suggested Lara had agreed to participate only if the others were allowed to play. Lara's absence is the latest setback for the West Indies, who have dropped to third-to-last in the International Cricket Council rankings, above only Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. Reprinted from jamaicaobserver.com