KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – Jamaica’s cricket authorities have confirmed West Indies batsman Chris Gayle as captain for the WICB President’s Cup limited overs tournament later this month.

Gayle, the estranged West Indies captain, was one of 18 players named Tuesday to prepare for the championship, which runs from October 28 to November 5 in Guyana.

The 30-year-old left-hander and most of the elite West Indies players opted not to make themselves available for the Bangladesh series here in the Caribbean earlier this year, as a contracts dispute raged between the West Indies Cricket Board and the West Indies Players Association.

As a result, Gayle and the top tier players were overlooked for the recent ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa where a makeshift Windies side lost all three of their matches.

Gayle has led the Windies for the last two years, after taking over from the injured Ramnaresh Sarwan in 2007.

David Bernard jr, who broke the ranks with WIPA and represented the Windies against Bangladesh, is expected to be appointed Jamaica’s vice-captain for the President’s Cup.

It is unclear whether Gayle will be re-instated as West Indies captain for the forthcoming tour of Australia.

Last month, the new the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) chief executive expressed concern about Gayle being automatically re-installed as captain.
In an interview with the international cricket web site, Cricinfo, Hilaire pointed to comments attributed to Gayle that he is “not interested in playing Test cricket anymore” and suggested that he be quizzed about his leadership ambitions.

Hilaire conceded in the interview that it is for the selection committee to discuss the captaincy issue and make a recommendation to the board, but said he believes it “would be wise” to question Gayle about his comments.