The enigma that is Chris Gayle

[shankycricket]

@DanCricket08
Chris Gayle has made himself available for the Windies for their tour of England.

[andy]

@DanCricket08
Chris Gayle has made himself available for the Windies for their tour of England.

whether he's selected or not is a different matter..he has made himself avaliable before and not picked.

[mikesiva]

@DanCricket08
Chris Gayle has made himself available for the Windies for their tour of England.

whether he's selected or not is a different matter..he has made himself avaliable before and not picked.

Exactly....

And this is the problem with the latest dispute. Gayle will not cancel his contract with Somerset until he received a guarantee from the WICB that he will be picked for the England tour, and given the past history of the WICB, he's right to do so:

"I would appreciate if I could be informed whether I will be contracted for the West Indies Team for England Tour before I give my commitment to Somerset," Gayle said. "I only ask this so I would be in an informed position before I respond to Somerset, given the fact that I indicated my availability to the West Indies Team after the IPL," Gayle said, requesting an immediate reply. In his response, sent on April 26, Hilaire said that "the Board has now considered your request and is extremely disappointed that, following the progress we had seemed to be making towards final agreement, you now seem unwilling to honour the commitment you made with respect to your Somerset contract." According to Hilaire, Gayle had sent a "side letter" to Gonsalves on March 23, stating that he would "forego" his Somerset contract in order to make himself available to play for West Indies. "You reiterated this commitment in your April 1 letter, in response to WICB's request for clarification," Hilaire said. "Your most recent communication appears to suggest that you may be reneging on your availability as you now state that you are willing to make yourself available and not that you are making yourself available. A player cannot be considered for selection if he has not made himself available for selection."

http://www.espncricinfo.com/england-v-w ... 63292.html

Semantics....

The WICB told Kraigg Brathwaite that his place in the Test team against the Aussies was safe, despite a poor run of form, long before the squad was officially announced. They could do the same with Gayle, if they really wanted a resolution. But the simple truth is that the WICB don't want Gayle in the team.

[shankycricket]

The WICB is just

[andy]

i agree with ya shanks.

[Alex!]

Chris Gayle might as well retire from international cricket because it has become farcical and it would be the best way to forward for both parties. I don't think the WICB want him in the setup. It would be a sad way to end a cricket but I doubt he will get into the team again.

[HarryPotter]

Much as I dislike Gayle as a person if the quotes in the cricinfo article are accurate the WICB are in the wrong and acting like stubbon morons.

IF its a case of Gayle needs to be available all the time fair enough, say so and thats a reasonable stance. But they are not saying that.

[Alex!]

Chris Gayle might as well retire from international cricket because it has become farcical and it would be the best way to forward for both parties. I don't think the WICB want him in the setup. It would be a sad way to end a cricket career but I doubt he will get into the team again.

Sorry meant to add in a career*

[Making_Splinters]

Hopefully this latest plublic round of idiocy from the WICB will start giving the West Indies players who have decided enough is enough a little more support. The IPL nonsense between the WICB and its players stopped being about club and country a lon time ago and simply became about having a secure career or not.

[andy]

another cracking knock from Big Chris today

[Alex!]

CG will not honour his contract with Somerset made himself available for the ODI against England. I hope the WICB pick him.

CG statement

"I wish to advise that as of today, May 2nd, 2012, I have written to Somerset CC and advised them that I will not be honouring the commitment I made to them when I signed a contract with them for the 2012 [Friends Life t20]. I made it clear to them that my decision was made because of my commitment to West Indies cricket and to West Indies cricket fans, and because ... I believe that it is time for the WICB to make a decision which will provide a clearer view of my own future," Gayle said in a statement.

"I understand that by making this decision, it may place me in a position of considerable risk, since I am foregoing a signed contract, without any guarantees whatsoever, with only the hope that I will be selected to play for the West Indies again. I have now satisfied all of the requests of the WICB and their selection panel, with whom I met via teleconference yesterday, and to whom I reiterated previous assurances given to the board regarding my availability.

"So that there is no doubt, I confirmed to the selectors that I was available for West Indies duty in all forms of cricket, immediately following the conclusion of my contractual obligations to my IPL franchise, Royal Challengers Bangalore. This has been a difficult time, and I wish to sincerely thank everyone who has supported me, my family and friends, and in particular cricket fans worldwide who have continued to show appreciation for me wherever I have played. I look forward to once again putting on the maroon, and resuming my international career and my service to West Indies cricket."

http://www.espncricinfo.com/westindies/ ... 63553.html

[mikesiva]

So, there's nothing in the way of the WICB picking Gayle now....

The ball is now in their court.

You only have to watch the clips of the interview being played on Sky Sports News to realise that Sammy is not happy about Gayle returning to the ODI squad....

[shankycricket]

Top man Gayle

If that medium pace trundler with an awful ODI record isnt happy with Gayle in the squad then he should opt out. The team needs Gayle far more.

[GGAS]

You only have to watch the clips of the interview being played on Sky Sports News to realise that Sammy is not happy about Gayle returning to the ODI squad....

Yeah, saw that too.

If Gibson was annoyed about him being back he hid it well. Sammy on the other hand, looked like he was about to vomit in disgust.

[andy]

good to see he's avaliable and i really hope they pick him, for the sake of world and windies cricket.