BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Chris Gayle has been reappointed captain of the West Indies team after an emphatic vote in his favour and will lead the side to the tour of Australia later this month.
Gayle, 30, has been out of international cricket for the past four months because of a contractual dispute between the players’ union and the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), and – in his absence — the veteran Barbadian Floyd Reifer led the West Indies against Bangladesh and to the Champions Trophy in South Africa.
West Indies fast bowling legend Joel Garner will be manager of the squad, which is scheduled to leave on November 9 for the Three-Test series against the Aussies.
There was uncertainty over whether Gayle would be reinstated as captain and it is believed that Daren Ganga, the Trinidad and Tobago captain and his teammate Dwayne Bravo, were also considered for the job.
WICB officials voted overwhelmingly on Saturday to endorse the selection panel’s recommendation to reinstate the big Jamaican left-handed opening batsman.
During a two-year reign as captain, Gayle’s West Indies side had shown sporadic signs of promise but his overall win-loss record as captain in Test cricket remains negative — three wins, five losses and six draws in 14 matches.
His appetite for the job as captain had been questioned been since this summer when media reports in England circulated about comments he made in an interview suggesting he was prepared to give up captaincy because of pressures of the job and cricket’s heavy demand on him.
He was also quoted as saying he “wouldn’t be so sad” if Test cricket was replaced by Twenty20 cricket in the future but later retorted that his comments on the captaincy and Test cricket issues were taken out of context.
In a recent interview, new WICB CEO Ernest Hilaire, commenting on the statements attributed to Gayle that he was “not interested in playing Test cricket anymore”, suggested that “it would be wise” to quiz Gayle about his leadership ambitions before considering him for the job.
Media reports over the past two weeks, spoke of Gayle embracing the possibility of being appointed captain and saying he would be committed to the job if offered.
The 15-man squad for the Australia tour is expected to be announced shortly.
The composition of the squad has taken on special significance, especially following the recent bitter contracts dispute which led to the top tier players withdrawing their service and the selection of a makeshift squad for the Bangladesh series and the Champions Trophy in South Africa.
Following the end of the impasse earlier this month, all the marquee players made themselves available for the President’s Cup which was a major selection criteria for the tour of Australia
