Chris Gayle has a Sunday date with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) to clear up any outstanding issues before returning to the regional side.
And the controversial opening batsman doesn’t expect it will be all smooth sailing.
While the way had been cleared for Gayle to be considered for selection following a CARICOM-brokered agreement between the two parties, it had also been agreed that there needed to be a meeting to “clear up residual matters” prior to his return to the team.
“It is a radical issue meeting. It’s nothing to do with cricket,” Gayle said yesterday evening on the SportsMax Zone television programme.
“There are other issues to deal with which the board needs to iron out. We’ll see how best we work those out and what comes out of it.
“Hopefully, we can be clear and [my] mind [will be] free of all these ongoing issues.”
Gayle recently returned to the Caribbean following a highly successful stint in the Indian Premier League (IPL) where he scored a tournament-high 733 runs at an average of 61.08 and had a strike rate of 160.74 for the Royal Challengers Bangalore.
The 32-year-old left-hander has not been selected for West Indies since March last year following the end of the 2011 World Cup because of comments he made in a controversial interview with a Jamaican radio station.
Despite a series of meetings between Gayle and the WICB, the two parties failed to reach a resolution until the recent intervention of CARICOM.
“When everything happened, it really hurt a lot,” Gayle said.
“I miss it [playing for West Indies]. I was at the peak of my career. Coming off my IPL stint, I was mature.
“Being out for a year has been tough. I’ve been travelling around the world and getting runs. Those could have been international runs. That’s life, that’s history.”
In addition to turning out in the IPL, Gayle has played in some domestic Twenty20 leagues, having secured deals in Australia, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh.
He was also set to turn out for English county Somerset in the Friends Life T20 competition starting on June 12, but withdrew, instead making himself available for selection to the West Indies team for the limited-overs segment of the ongoing tour of England.
In spite of his heavy diet of Twenty20 cricket over the past year, Gayle insists he still has the desire to play the longer form of the game.
“I still have the passion. I want to give it another shot to get a triple century. That will be a big ask,” he said.
“To get back in the game is the first priority, to get back in the groove in playing the longer version of the game. It’s been a lot of T20 cricket over the last year.
“I am sure I can fit into the situation and West Indies can get some victories under their belt and my contribution can pass on to the youngsters.”
West Indies’ selectors are expected to meet early next week to pick a squad for the limited-overs matches of the England tour. (HG)
