BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) – Chris Gayle was the unanimous choice to lead West Indies on the three-Test tour of Australia, chairman of selectors Clyde Butts revealed Monday.

The languid Jamaican, who has led the regional side for the last two years, was retained for the post despite speculation selectors would have explored other options.

Butts told CMC Sports while a few names were considered, Gayle was the overwhelming pick for the panel that also comprised Raphick Jumadeen and Robert Haynes.

“I think when you look at what took place over the last year, Chris Gayle was our captain before we had the impasse and we had Denesh Ramdin as his vice-captain,” Butts said in a telephone interview from Guyana.

“You had Ramnaresh Sarwan who has captained before and Dwayne Bravo who has also captained before.

“Those four names were considered for the captaincy of the West Indies team and at the end we though that Chris Gayle was at this time and at this moment, the most suitable person to captain West Indies and take them to Australia.”

Trinidad & Tobago captain Daren Ganga had been mooted in several quarters as a possible choice to captain the side, especially after he led the national team to the final of the Twenty20 Champions League in India earlier this month.

However, Butts said the panel was not convinced the right-handed opener could command a place in the Windies team, pointing to his past performances and his outing in the regional four-day championship earlier this year.

Ganga, who has played 48 Tests with modest success, finished with 749 runs at an average 46.18.

“His name actually came up but I don’t think we thought that Daren Ganga at this time would have gotten into a West Indies team,” said the former Guyana and West Indies off-spinner.

“Looking at the history of his batting and looking at how he has batted over the past year or so in the regional tournament, I don’t think he’s actually made a lot of runs in the tournament and it would have been difficult to see him in this team.”

Selectors on Monday announced the 15-man squad for the tour of Australia which will see Tests in Brisbane (November 26-30), Adelaide (December 4-8) and Perth (December 16-20.