Monday, November 2, 2009

Gayle returns as Windies skipper

Chris Gayle
Gayle has only played club cricket in recent weeks

Chris Gayle has been reinstated as West Indies captain for their forthcoming Test series in Australia.

The Jamaican will resume the role after the settlement of a dispute between the players and the West Indies board.

Former fast bowler Joel Garner will be team manager, with the rest of the touring squad to be named this week.

West Indies will play Queensland in a four-day game starting on 18 November, their only warm-up fixture before the opening Test in Brisbane.

The dispute over players' contracts and image rights forced West Indies to field a weakened team, captained by Floyd Reifer, in a home series against Bangladesh and the ICC Champions Trophy.

606: DEBATE
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During that period, the only major match won by the team was a Twenty20 international against Bangladesh in St Kitts.

And the onus will be on Gayle and his players to restore the reputation of Caribbean cricket.

But West Indies have not won a series in Australia since 1992/3 and the odds will be heavily against them doing so this time as most of their players have not played international cricket since July.

Gayle himself recently made headlines for being bowled by world and Olympic sprint champion Usain Bolt during a charity match.

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