Kingston, Jamaica – Chris Gayle will be a non-starter for Jamaica in the Caribbean Twenty20 Championship next month.
Media reports indicated that the estranged West Indies opener will not be released by the Sydney Thunders franchise during the Big Bash Twenty20 tournament which will be contested in Australia at the same time the regional tournament is unfolding.
Gayle hinted that he would try to make himself available for Jamaica in a bid for them to complete a sweep of the major regional titles after leading the national side to victory in the Regional Super 50 tournament last October in Guyana.
His unavailability almost rules him out of the Twenty20 World Cup next September in Sri Lanka in light of the West Indies Cricket Board’s new selection policy.
Players must now make themselves available to their regional territorial side in the format of the game for which they hope to be selected for West Indies during the ensuing year.
Gayle has not played for West Indies since the World Cup on the Asian sub-continent earlier this year, following a disagreement with the WICB over his contentious comments in an interview with a Jamaican radio station.
Efforts to resolve the matter have proved futile with the WICB demanding an apology from Gayle and the batsman openly refusing to budge.
Jamaica have been slotted into Group-B, where their opponents will be the Netherlands, Sussex, Combined Campuses & Colleges, and co-hosts Barbados.
The CT20 opens on January 9. (CMC)