Chris Gayle Recalled to West Indies Squad
Chris Gayle’s 15-month international exile is over after he was formally recalled to the West Indies One Day International squad for the forthcoming series against England, starting in Southampton on June 16.
In keeping with the irritated and drawn out nature of the dispute that kept Gayle out of the team, Gayle recall was confirmed after a meeting of more political than selection nature in St Vincent.
Chris Gayle and his agent Michael Hall spoke with an array of political and cricket figures including the island’s prime minister Ralph Gonsalves, Antigua and Barbuda prime minister Baldwin Spencer, WICB president Julian Hunte, WICB director Elson Crick and the WICB’s legal officer Alanna Medford.
The meeting, devised to smooth over any “residual matters” between Chris Gayle and the WICB, was followed by the announcement of the squad for the limited-overs segment of the England tour, with Chris Gayle returning to the ranks for the first time since the 2011 World Cup.
“Directors of the West Indies Cricket Board recently met by teleconference and are pleased that consistent with his previous commitment Mr Chris Gayle has made himself available for selection to the West Indies team”, a WICB statement had said of the meeting.
“The board believes that Mr Gayle’s stated commitment to West Indies cricket will be an asset to the team and looks forward to his contributions in that regard”.
Chris Gayle recall was first mooted during West Indies’ earlier home series against Australia, when he met with WICB officials to repair a relationship that had deteriorated around the emergence of Twenty20 and the rise of the Indian Premier League.
It then dissolved entirely when the captain criticised the coach Ottis Gibson and the West Indies Cricket Board during a radio interview last year.
West Indies ODI Squad:
Chris Gayle, Johnson Charles, Lendl Simmons, Darren Bravo, Kieron Pollard, Marlon Samuels, Dwayne Bravo, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Darren Sammy (captain), Dwayne Smith, Andre Russell, Tino Best, Fidel Edwards, Ravi Rampaul, Sunil Narine.
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