Windies Lloyd Accepts T20 Stars

West Indies chairman of selectors Clive Lloyd bears no ill will towards players opting to take part in Australia’s domestic Twenty20 tournament rather than playing Test cricket.

Windies stars Chris Gayle, Andre Russell, Lendl Simmons, Dwayne Bravo and Samuel Badree have put in a series of eye-catching performances in the Big Bash League this season, while the West Indies have struggled to compete with Australia in their three-Test series.

West Indies great Lloyd said on Friday he understood the motivation of those choosing to play the shorter format of the game to the longest. “You can’t fault them,” he said. “We’re from the islands and the point is, with the money that is being paid in these shorter games its obvious that players are looking towards their future and unfortunately we’re missing out. All those guys who we groomed have now left so were left with a vacuum and we now have to fill that.”

Lloyd said he believed the core of the side that trails Australia 2-0 ahead of the third and final Test starting at the SCG on Sunday had the potential to be competitive in the years to come. But the absence of those stars was hurting them badly. “That’s the situation we have, we have guys like Andre Russell, Lendl Simmons, Chris Gayle, Bravo and these fellas, they’ve retired from the longer form of the game,” he said. “Somebody like Russell surely we would have had a chat with him, but he has a problem with his knee and he’s just playing one day cricket.

“Lendl Simmons too would have been a nice guy to have in the middle there because he’s an opener he plays spin very well, he would have fitted in fine with our batting. But he’s not involved so we’ve got to look somewhere else. It’s a bit of a sad situation but I’m sure that our cricket will get better.”

Lloyd left the door open for Gayle, 36, to return from his effective retirement from Test cricket. “That’s up to him, you have to play in our four-day competition before you’re selected for the longer game,” Lloyd said. “So it’s entirely up to him to do so, if he chooses to play one-dayers then that’s his choice and we’ll have to choose accordingly.”

“But to play in the one-day game you have to play in the one-day competition and to play in the Test matches you have to play in the longer form of cricket at home.”

Gayle Sets Test Opening Record

Chris Gayle has become the first player ever to hit a six off the first ball of a Test match.

The West Indies left hander hit Bangladesh debutant Sohag Gazi over long-on in the first Test in Dhaka.

It was the 2,051st Test in history since the first match in 1877 but Gayle's luck eventually ran out when Gazi had the opener caught for 24.

Gayle has now smashed a total of 84 sixes in his Test career to reach joint sixth on the all-time list.

The 33-year-old Jamaican is known for his flamboyant style, and his seven Twenty20 centuries are more than any other player in that form of the game.

West Indies closed the first day of the Test on 361-4 thanks to 123 not out from Shivnarine Chanderpaul and 117 from Kieran Powell.

Related articles

• Powell, Chanderpaul tons power West Indies to 361-4 against Bangladesh on day 1 of 1st test
• Gazi takes 2 on debut as West Indies reaches 107-3 at lunch on day 1 of 1st test vs Bangladesh
• West Indies wins toss, opts to bat first in first test vs. Bangladesh
• Chanderpaul, Powell power West Indies
• Kieran Powell century puts West Indies in control against Bangladesh
• Chanderpaul, Powell put Windies in strong positon

Windies See Gayle Storm Australia

Getty Images

West Indies reached their maiden World Twenty20 final with a 74-run win over Australia in Colombo.

Opener Chris Gayle batted through for 75 not out as West Indies piled up 205-4 after opting to bat first, the first 200-plus total of the tournament.

Australia were bowled out for 131 in reply, the only bright spot of which was skipper George Bailey's 29-ball 63.

Gayle faced 41 balls and accounted for six of his side's 14 sixes despite appearing to be in pain from an abdominal injury as the innings progressed.

Marlon Samuels (26) and Dwayne Bravo (37) both made useful contributions before Kieron Pollard added a late flourish with 38 off 15 deliveries, including three successive sixes as the final over, bowled by left-arm spinner Xavier Doherty (1-48), disappeared for 25 runs.

Australia slumped to 43-6 in reply, leg-spinner Samuel Badree (2-27) removing openers David Warner (1) and Shane Watson (7) and seamer Ravi Rampaul striking twice in his first over.

Bailey launched a furious counter-attack but was caught on the boundary trying to add to his four sixes and the tail quickly subsided as Australia lasted 16.4 overs in total.

West Indies will take on host nation Sri Lanka in Sunday's final at the same venue.

Related articles

• Bravo returns as West Indies bat against Australia
• Gayle powers Windies to big total
• Australia set big target in Windies T20
• Australia vs West Indies semi-final T20 World Cup:Cricket live score, highlights (Video)
• T20 World Cup: Second Semifinals: live updates
• Chris Gayle stands between Australia and World Twenty20 final

Police Break-up Gayle's Hotel Party

Getty Images

Sri Lankan police were called to break up a late night party in the hotel room of West Indies batsman Chris Gayle at the luxury Cinnamon Grand in Colombo.

Gayle and his team-mates Andre Russell, Fidel Edwards and Dwayne Smith were carousing with three British female guests when police intervened.

The women were removed by officers and briefly arrested. Although they were not charged, they were released on bail and the British High Commission in Colombo was informed.

The West Indies are progressing well through the Twenty20 event, with a victory over New Zealand on Monday earning them a semi-final slot against Australia on Friday.

Gayle, 33, is famed for his extrovert attitude as well as his hard-hitting batting, and he attracted comment for his dance-style celebrations after dismissing England’s Jonny Bairstow earlier in the tournament.

The left-hander is one of the most feared batsmen in all formats of the game with a penchant for big hits against both pace and spin. His 117 off 57 balls against South Africa in the inaugural World Twenty20 in 2007 was the highest individual score in the competition until Kiwi Brendon McCullum hit 123 off 58 balls against Bangladesh in the current edition.

The West Indies management and the International Cricket Council, organisers of the World Twenty20, both confirmed the hotel incident but declined to comment further.

A police spokesman said: “Ministerial Security Division guards assigned to protect the players carried out the arrest and the three women were handed over to the Kollupitiya police station.”

However, a hotel employee insisted: “There was no wrongdoing on the part of the players or the women and we are surprised at the police action. It is not against the law to be a guest of a player.”

Related articles

• Warner, Watson blasts propel Australia to 17-run D/L win over West Indies in World Twenty20
• Gayle's female guests arrested in West Indies rooms
• New Zealand v West Indies - ICC World Twenty20 2012 (21st Match - Group 1) - Live Score and Match Update - West Indies set New Zealand 140-run chase
• West Indies oust New Zealand in dramatic Super Over
• Windies march into semi-finals with "Super" win
• West Indies' Chris Gayle is going 'Gangnam Style' at World Twenty20

Windies Recall Gayle for England

OSM news

Gayle Leads Bangalore to Win

Chris Gayle smashed 82 not out to lead Royal Challengers Bangalore to a nine-wicket win over Mumbai Indians and top the list of run-scorers in the Indian Premier League this season.

Gayle now has 515 runs to overtake Virender Sehwag (468) after hitting six sixes and five fours in 59 balls. Bangalore restricted Mumbai to 6-141 at Wankhede Stadium and then scored 1-142 in 18 overs.

Gayle, who was dropped on 21 by West Indian compatriot Dwayne Smith off Harbhajan Singh, added 94 in an unbroken second-wicket stand with captain Virat Kohli (36 not out).

He struck three consecutive sixes off left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha and perfectly executed the pull shot off the pace bowlers.

"We knew we had to see off (Lasith) Malinga early on and then build the innings," Gayle said.

"We were expecting two overs upfront from him but he bowled three."

Earlier, seamer Vinay Kumar and spinner Muttiah Muralitharan came up with timely wickets after Mumbai had been sent in to bat.

Opener James Franklin (1) and Rohit Sharma (0) fell cheaply to Kumar. Franklin slashed at a delivery and was caught by Zaheer Khan at third man, while Sharma was trapped lbw three deliveries later as Mumbai was reduced to 2-2 in the second over.

Sachin Tendulkar hit three successive fours off Kumar in his innings of 24, and Dinesh Karthik scored 44 from 39 balls to steady the innings.

The win lifted Bangalore to fourth in the nine-team league with six wins, five losses and one no-result from 12 games.

Mumbai remain third with seven wins and five losses from 12 outings.

OSM news service

No Gayle Forecast in Somerset

Chris Gayle looks set to return to the West Indies set-up for the Test series against England after turning his back on a deal to play for Somerset.

The big-hitting Jamaican left-hander has not played for his country for more than a year following a spat with the WICB - with Gayle having agreed to play Twenty20 for Somerset.

Gayle Six Breaks Fan's Nose

West Indian batsman Chris Gayle has visited a female spectator who suffered a broken nose after being hit by one of his sixes as she watched from the stands at an Indian Premier League match.

The Royal Challengers Bangalore opener smashed eight sixes, including five in a row off leg-spinner Rahul Sharma, during an explosive innings that helped his team beat Pune Warriors on Wednesday.

Gayle said on Twitter that after learning one of his strikes had hit the fan, named only as Tia, and broken her nose he decided to go and visit her.

"Her 1st word to me is to Chill, She's fine!" he wrote.

"She was thrilled to meet Gayle, who also presented his medal (for hitting maximum sixes in the match) to her," RCB manager Avinash Vaidya told AFP, saying the girl was thought to be aged about 10.

The left-handed opener, who was named man of the match, cracked a 48-ball 81 in a magnificent display of power-hitting to help Bangalore surpass Pune's challenging total of 182 with six wickets to spare in a last-ball finish.

Join OSM news service

Gayle for Somerset T20

Somerset have signed West Indies opener Chris Gayle as their overseas player for the 2012 Twenty20 campaign.

Kieron Pollard is unavailable due to the Windies' tour of England, but Gayle is not expected to be involved following a contractual dispute.

"I'm delighted to be heading to Somerset," said Gayle. "Hopefully I can make a key contribution to their T20 campaign this year.

Left-hander Gayle captained West Indies between 2007 and 2010.

With Marcus Trescothick, Craig Kieswetter, Jos Buttler, James Hildreth and Peter Trego in their hard-hitting top order, Gayle's arrival will only help increase Somerset's chances of winning the Twenty20 this summer.

They have finished runners-up in the past two years, qualifying for the Champions League last autumn in India, where they reached the last four.

Gayle, who spent a short spell with Worcestershire in 2005, now has vast experience in Twenty20, having hit almost 3,000 runs at 39.58 in 85 matches, including 195 sixes, as well as taking 47 wickets at 31.19 at an economy rate of 7.47.

Apart from 20 appearances for West Indies, he has also appeared for Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League, Western Australia Warriors and Sydney Thunder in the Australian Big Bash, as well as Matabeleland Tuskers in Zimbabwe.

"We are delighted to have been able to sign Chris for this season," said Somerset director of cricket Brian Rose. "He is a tremendously exciting player and one of the people who would get into any world T20 XI.

"Chris is a tremendous all-rounder. His batting is outstanding, he bowls and can open the attack with his off-spinners and he is also a brilliant fielder, so we are absolutely delighted."