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Windies recall Gayle for England ODIs

June 05, 2012 07:19 IST

The West Indies have recalled Chris Gayle. The flamboyant left-hander was included in the 15-man one-day squad to face England.

He will don West Indies colours for the first time since the 2011 World Cup in the three-game one-day international series, which starts on June 16.

The 32-year-old opener, whose public spat with the West Indies Cricket Board resulted in him being ineligible for nearly a year, last played for the West Indies last March. He was critical of the WICB after being omitted from the subsequent one-day series at home against Pakistan.

He has since played regularly in Twenty20 tournaments around the world, including the Indian Premier League and Australia's Big Bash League.

"Directors of the West Indies Cricket Board recently met by teleconference and are pleased that consistent with his previous commitment Mr Chris Gayle has made himself available for selection to the West Indies team," read a statement from the WICB.

"The board believes that Mr Gayle's stated commitment to West Indies cricket will be an asset to the team and looks forward to his contributions in that regard," it added.

The Jamaican is the most prolific West Indian century-maker in ODIs, with 19 hundreds in 228 matches since his debut in 1999.

West Indies squad: Darren Sammy (capt), Chris Gayle, Johnson Charles, Lendl Simmons, Darren Bravo, Kieron Pollard, Marlon Samuels, Dwayne Bravo, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Dwayne Smith, Andre Russell, Tino Best, Fidel Edwards, Ravi Rampaul, Sunil Narine.

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