The BBC's Duncan Kennedy: First tour by West Indies to S Africa since apartheid ended may not go ahead

Bacher and Lloyd will meet members of the West Indian team, who failed to arrive for the start of the tour in South Africa - the team's first official visit since the ending of apartheid.

Following a meeting with the seven players who arrived in South Africa on Wednesday, Dr Bacher said he hoped a solution could be found.

"The players want the tour to go ahead," he said.

Carl Hooper: Stayed in London

West Indies board member Joel Garner, a former Test player who is currently managing the West Indies A team in Bangladesh, will fly to London to join the crisis talks.

Dr Bacher said he hoped a solution would be found by the weekend.

The crisis follows the sacking of captain Brian Lara and vice-captain Carl Hooper - both of whom were among nine players who failed to arrive for the start of the tour.

S African cricket journalist Michael Finch describes the current situation

Earlier, the seven players already in Johannesburg told management they also wanted to pull out.

The players in South Africa said they wanted to join the other members of the squad when the dispute arose between the players and the West Indies board.

The new demand by the players was made at a meeting with manager Clive Lloyd on Thursday morning.

'A law unto himself'

Former Warwickshire seamer Jack Bannister believes Lara may be using his high profile to negotiate better wages for himself and his West Indies team-mates, who are among the worst paid in the international game.

Bannister, still closely linked with the county Lara captained last year and with which he had his greatest season in 1994, said: "I have seen Lara in action for two seasons at Warwickshire - so nothing surprises me about him.

"The West Indies have long been the lowest-paid of the major Test-playing countries, and then here is Lara.

"You only have to count the number of disciplinary reactions he has had from the board - and from Warwickshire this year.

"As a cricketing superstar he is unique, and I am afraid he has become almost a law unto himself."