South African cricket chief Dr Ali Bacher announced the news as talks at a London hotel between the rebel cricketers and the West Indies management went into the night.

A deal has been struck by former South African wicketkeeper David Richardson, who was approached by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), Bacher said, raising hopes of a breakthrough in the negotiations.

Richardson, a qualified lawyer, has a sports marketing company, ESPM, based in Johannesburg.

He told South African Bacher that the deal had been done on Friday.

Speaking at the Heathrow Hotel, where negotiations between the WICB and the striking players were still continuing after four hours, Dr Bacher said: ``I told Chris Dehring, the West Indies marketing manager, about the deal when he arrived here.

``The players don't know about it yet but I expect they will be told during negotiations.''

Speaking in South Africa, Richardson said that his firm had been appointed by the WICB to help raise sponsorship long before the current dispute began.

Richardson stressed that the deal had nothing to do with the United Cricket Board of South Africa. ``This has nothing to do with them. The sponsors will be a West Indian Board sponsor.

``The fact that it is a South African company and the money is coming out of South Africa is not really the point.''

But Richardson strongly hinted that sacked team captain Brian Lara and vice-captain Carl Hooper would be vital to the deal and would have to be reinstated.

Meanwhile SABC television sports chief Edward Griffiths said the presence of the two star batsman was vital for full coverage of the tour.

The national broadcaster holds the right to screen world tour matches. Griffiths said: ``We won't put up with anything less than a full strength side. We owe it to our sponsors, viewers and advertisers.''

Bacher added: ``It's good money. But we want to announce the full details when the team arrives in South Africa.''

He was still confident that the tour would start on time on Tuesday. ``There are four flights out of Heathrow tonight and we have made a provisional booking for the West Indies players.

``We're expecting 300,000 people to come to the five Tests. I think that black support will be especially strong in Port Elizabeth and in Cape Town I expect 30 percent of the crowd will be coloured with a strong Indian presence in Durban.''

Earlier, WICB president Pat Rousseau flew into London in a bid to resolve the row.

Rousseau went straight into a meeting with Courtney Walsh, president of the West Indies Players' Association, accompanied by Jimmy Adams and Lara and Hooper - the men Rousseau sacked from the tour over their pay and conditions demands.

The players have insisted that Lara and Hooper, captain and vice-captain, must be reinstated if the tour is to take place.