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The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) is scrambling to get a team together for the first test against Bangladesh starting on Thursday after the selected players decided to boycott the match due to contract disputes.

The WICB has said the match would go ahead but has not stated whether it is recruiting an alernative team after Tuesday's boycott announcement.

However Jamaican fast bowler Daren Powell, not included in the selected 13 for the game in St. Vincent, told Reuters on Wednesday he had been approached by the board to play.

Powell, dropped for May's tour of England but a regular over recent years with 37 test appearances to his name, said he had turned down the chance to play.

"I was contacted by the West Indies board but I told them I was not available this time," Powell said.

The WICB faces a huge challenge in finding a team and making arrangements to get them to St. Vincent in time for the game.

The Barbados Nation newspaper reported on Wednesday that 16-year-old Barbadian opening batsman Kraigg Brathwaite is among those who have been approached to play in the first test.

Brathwaite is in Jamaica for the regional Under-19 tournament and the Nation said that several other Barbadians were being considered including former test player Tino Best.

The West Indies Players Assocation (WIPA) announced on Tuesday that the test squad, captained by Chris Gayle, had withdrawn from the series with immediate effect.

The WIPA said they are owed payments for recent games and that the players have performed in the last four series without contracts.

The WICB said the boycott was "extremely ill advised and premature" and said it considered negotations with the WIPA were ongoing.