ST JOHN’S, Antigua CMC – West Indies have resisted the urge to include Chris Gayle for the third One-day International against India tomorrow at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket ground in Antigua. The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) announced a 13-member squad for the match, and Gayle was again a non-starter, despite Darren Sammy’s side struggling with the bat, and trailing 0-2 in the five-match series.
“The WICB management and the WICB team management have not yet met with Chris Gayle, and as such, he has not been considered for selection,” said a WICB media release yesterday.
WICB officials told CMC Sports Wire yesterday that they could meet with the talismanic opener as early as next week, in an attempt to resolve lingering tensions, stemming from a controversial radio interview in April in which he heavily criticised the regional governing body, and team coach Ottis Gibson, which means that Gayle is unlikely to play in the ODI series, which ends on June 16 in his native Jamaica.
The selectors have made two changes to the squad, with Danza Hyatt and Kemar Roach replacing Dwayne Bravo and Ravi Rampaul.
The WICB said Dwayne Bravo made a request of the selection committee to be given a break from the game, and the request was granted.
This meant that Hyatt now has a chance to make his One-day International debut, after he made his first Twenty20 International appearance against Pakistan last month, and also played last Saturday’s T20I against India.
After an intense period of heavy workload, Rampaul is being rested for tomorrow and Monday’s matches in Antigua and Roach will return to the squad.
Roach too, was rested for the T20I and first two ODIs in Trinidad, all of which West Indies lost, but he played in a One-day club match for Maple in his native Barbados, where he was the most expensive bowler, conceding 63 runs from 10 overs with the reward of the scalp of fellow Barbados player Kyle Hope.
The WICB added that diminutive opener Adrian Barath will spend a week working at the High Performance Centre undergoing intense practice, in order to be considered for selection for the Test series, which opens on June 20 in Jamaica.
Barath has been sidelined for the last three months with a hamstring injury, which he sustained just prior to the World Cup on the sub-continent. He has been playing in the club competitions in his native Trinidad & Tobago, and underwent a fitness examination over the last few days that the side was in Port of Spain.
West Indies lost the opening ODI by four wickets last Monday at the Queen’s Park Oval, where they also lost the second ODI by seven wickets two days later.
Squad:
Darren Sammy (captain), Carlton Baugh Jr, Devendra Bishoo, Darren Bravo, Kirk Edwards, Danza Hyatt, Anthony Martin, Kieron Pollard, Kemar Roach, Andre Russell, Marlon Samuels, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Lendl Simmons