After his late arrival for the opening Test sparked criticism, Gayle has again distracted his side with his comments in an English newspaper in which he admitted that he was growing tired of Test cricket and he may step down from the position of captain.

Gayle however, has pledged his commitment to West Indies cricket and outlined that walking away from the position of captain is still a long way off.

“I am definitely not giving up the captaincy after this Test match,” he said. “I think I still have a big part to play in West Indies cricket. I always get the support of the team and the management staff. There is no conflict or problems in the team.”

He added: “We want to focus on our cricket by getting the job done – winning this match and keeping the Wisden Trophy. Since I started as captain it has helped me with my game and it has helped me as an individual as well.”

Gayle warned England that they should not start celebrations too early, although the Durham venue has been a happy hunting ground for the hosts, who have not lost any of the three Tests they have played there.

“As a player I am totally focused on the upcoming match and what I need to do to be successful,” he said.

“As a team we are totally focused on what is required to defeat England. We had discussions after the first Test and we know we have to be mentally strong in this match. It is a must-win game and we will be looking to keep the Wisden Trophy. We will be attacking from ball one.”

His side may have clearly been the better of the two at the ‘spiritual’ home of the game, but England captain Andrew Strauss is not prepared to allow his side to fall into a false sense of security. He admitted there were still areas for improvement.

“We need to be more clinical, especially with the bat, and maybe with the ball,” he said. “In the second innings at Lord’s, we searched for those magic balls a bit too much.

“The more games we win the more confident we will be going into that Ashes Test series, but there’s still a bit of revenge for us in trying to regain that Wisden Trophy.”

Strauss continued: “The fact is we beat them comprehensively and it was a fantastic start to the summer. I am confident we can repeat the same level of performance.”

Squads:
England (from): Andrew Strauss (captain), Alastair Cook (vice-captain), James Anderson, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Paul Collingwood, Graham Onions, Kevin Pietersen, Matt Prior, Ryan Sidebottom, Graeme Swann

West Indies (from): Chris Gayle (capt.), Denesh Ramdin (vice-captain), Lionel Baker, Sulieman Benn, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Fidel Edwards, Brendan Nash, Darren Sammy, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Lendl Simmons, Devon Smith, Jerome Taylor
Umpires: Steve Davis, Asoka de Silva.