PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC):

DESPITE a looming court battle over the Twenty20 match against England in November, all 16 players on the Stanford Superstars side have signed contracts to participate in the lucrative fixture.

This move comes even as the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and telecommunication giants Digicel head to court in September to dispute the staging of the match, which will see the largest ever payout for a single cricket game.

Digicel, the current West Indies cricket sponsors, filed an injunction against the staging of the match last Friday in the London High Court, contending that the deal between the WICB and Stanford Twenty20 was an infringement of their rights.

The London High Court granted Digicel's application for an expedited adjudication with the next hearing set for September 18. As a result, the injunction has thrown the staging of the match, scheduled for November 1 in Antigua, into doubt. The Stanford Superstars squad, which includes West Indies stars Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul, was selected two weeks ago following a two-week training camp in Antigua.

Since then, all-rounder Dwayne Bravo has withdrawn because of injury and the selectors are expected to meet shortly to choose a replacement.