Chris Gayle to join West Indies team

The protracted standoff between the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and beleaguered opener Chris Gayle ended with the selectors recalling the former captain to play in the One-Day Internationals (ODI) series in England. The much-awaited recall follows a high-level meeting in St Vincent on Sunday involving the talismanic left-hander, two regional prime ministers and the WICB officials. The 32-year-old Gayle and his representative Michael Hall, sat down with 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, in what the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) Sports understands was a “successful meeting”. Gayle has not played for the regional side in over a year because of a prolonged squabble with the WICB but made himself available for selection earlier last month after the impasse was resolved during an April meeting attended by Spencer and Gonsalves. Though Gayle had been cleared for selection, the meeting was called by the WICB in order to thrash out “residual issues”. A source, with privy to what transpired at the meeting, told CMC that the discussions made sure both Gayle and the WICB understood their roles going forward and knew what was expected of them. Gayle will now join a 15-man squad which will be led by regular captain Darren Sammy and which sees a recall for Trinidadian opener Lendl Simmons following injury and Dwayne Smith for the first time in over two years. Simmons has been one of the most successful West Indies openers in recent months, but was sidelined after breaking his finger in February during the Regional first class championship. In his last seven innings, he has a century and two half-centuries. Smith, meanwhile, has not played one-day cricket in over a year but has impressed selectors with his form in the T20 format where he has reinvented himself as an opener. The aggressive right-hander struck two half-centuries against the touring Australians recently and also starred for Mumbai Indians in the just-concluded Indian Premier League (IPL). He is one of several all-rounders named in the squad with Dwayne Bravo appointed vice-captain of the side. The three one-dayers will be played from June 16-24. The Squad: Darren Sammy (captain), Dwayne Bravo (vice-captain), Marlon Samuels, Chris Gayle, Denesh Ramdin, Kieron Pollard, Sunil Narine, Johnson Charles, Tino Best, Lendl Simmons, Dwayne Smith, Andre Russell, Darren Bravo, Fidel Edwards, Ravi Rampaul.