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Gayle open to Test return

2012-05-31 11:02:06

Chris Gayle has insisted he is ready and willing if called up to the West Indies’ Test team for the third and final Test against England

Gayle, who endured a fallout with the WICB after publicly criticising coach Ottis Gibson last year, has spent the last 12 months playing in domestic Twenty20 competitions around the world, including the Australian Big Bash League, Indian Premier League and Bangladesh Premier League.

Earlier this month saw lengthy negotiations between the player and the board bring a degree of closure to the dispute and Gayle has since availed himself to represent his country, which he has not done since the 2011 World Cup.

The Windies, the defeated recipients of an insurmountable two-nil deficit in the three-match series, have struggled for runs in England. Openers Adrian Barath and Kieran Powell, in particular, have managed just 120 runs from a combined eight innings at the lowly average of 15.

The left-handed Gayle, top-scorer at this year’s IPL, sports a Test career average of 41.65 across 91 matches and would prove a welcome addition to a side eager to stave off a series whitewash in Edgbaston.

“I don’t know if I’ll eventually get that call from the selectors but I have to meet with the board first on the third of June and the Test match starts on the seventh, so I don’t know how that would work,” Gayle said on the SportsMax Zone.

“We would have to meet and then I would have to jump on a plane. I don’t know how beneficial that would be for the team to actually be arriving a day before the Test match.

“But as I said, I am a sportsman and I am always ready physically and mentally for the occasion.

“You’ve got to prepare. You never know what will happen. You have to be prepared for the unexpected at times.

“As a sportsman, you definitely need to keep yourself in shape and make sure you are ready because you can be called on at the last minute.”