Gayle deflects captaincy issue

Robert Bailey, Gleaner Writer

West Indies captain Chris Gayle is not focusing his attention now on the possibility of not being selected to continue leading the regional team in the upcoming tour against Sri Lanka in November.

The West Indies team is scheduled to play three Tests and five one-day internationals (ODI) against the Sri Lankans.

There has been much talk recently around the region and elsewhere in cricketing circles concerning Gayle's position as captain of the Caribbean team, with several leading territorial board officials openly stating that the West Indies board should rid the Jamaican of the leadership role.

"To be honest, I am not going to get into any West Indies cricket discussion at this point in time," Gayle told The Gleaner in an interview, following the launch of his brainchild event - the Digicel-sponsored Christopher Gayle Pro 15/15 Cricket Tournament at Cuddy'z, New Kingston, on Wednesday.

Gayle's Pro 15/15 tournament will be held at the Kaiser Sports Club in Discovery Bay, St Ann, on October 2.

The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) generally appoints a skipper from series to series and Gayle, who has so far amassed 7,885 runs in 220 one-dayers at an average of 39.42, said it would be unfair to comment on the captaincy situation at this time as the regional team is not competing now.

"This is a situation where I am still on a break and to actually break any news pertaining to West Indies cricket, I don't see it as being fair at this time to get into any details about those sort of things," Gayle said.

"I am here to sort myself out and try to get this game on board," he added. "Later on, I am sure we will get into this and answer many more questions at a later date."

The 30-year-old, hard-hitting left-handed opening batsman also told The Gleaner that his mindset is fixed on sorting out his Pro 15-15 Cricket Tournament, noting that he has also been working very hard in the gym in order to get himself in tip-top shape ahead of the upcoming series.

"I am now in the gym trying to get back strong and fit. It has been a long break and I am trying to get these things out of the way and get back into the nets and start hitting a few balls," said Gayle, who has scored over 6,000 runs in 88 Test matches at an average of 40.31.

He added: "Things are progressing well and it is really looking well on my side."

Poor record

Under Gayle's leadership, the West Indies have won three of 20 Tests, while tasting defeat nine times. His record is not much better in the shorter formats (ODI and Twenty20), losing 30 in 53 ODIs and 10 out of 17 Twenty20s.

For many years prior to his appointment as West Indies captain, and ever since, the regional team has been one of the lowest ranked sides in every form of the game.

They fall eighth out of 10 on the International Cricket Council (ICC) rankings list; and seventh among the 10 main countries that are rated by the ICC in ODIs.

(See Galaxy of stars for Gayle Pro 15/15)