Gayle finally included in Windies ODI squad

PTI

Bridgetown (Barbados), 05 June 2012: West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has recalled beleaguered opener Chris Gayle into its One-day squad, marking an end to their 14-month long stand-off.

 

Gayle was pushed out of the team by the WICB even since he criticised the Board’s policies in a radio interview. Several unsuccessful attempts were made for truce in the past but finally the batsman made his way to the national squad.

 

He will feature in a three-match ODI series against England, starting June 16.

 

Gayle established himself as one of the most destructive batsmen of present era by strutting his stuff in the various Twenty20 leagues, specially the IPL.

 

A high-level meeting on Sunday involving the talismanic left-hander, two regional prime ministers and officials from the WICB finally broke the ice.

 

The 32-year-old Gayle and his representative Michael Hall met with St Vincent 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.

 

Chairman of the Selection Panel, Clyde Butts welcomed said Gayle’s comeback to the ODI squad."Chris is a player of proven quality and we are looking forward to him adding this dimension to the side and his contributions as a senior member of the squad," he said.

 

West Indies ODI Squad: Darren Sammy (C), Chris Gayle, Johnson Charles, Lendl Simmons, Darren Bravo, Kieron Pollard, Marlon Samuels, Dwayne Bravo, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Darren Sammy Dwayne Smith, Andre Russell, Tino Best, Fidel Edwards, Ravi Rampaul and Sunil Narine.