Cannot wait on the WICB any longer: Gayle`

Former West Indies captain Chris Gayle distanced himself further from the cricket establishment in the West Indies following his strongly worded public statement on Friday.

The explosive opener maintained he was available for selection for the West Indies and Jamaica but added he would also explore other possibilities.

Gayle said, “I have now reached the stage where I have to say that enough is enough. I understand that the WICB and the Jamaica Board met and my matter was discussed but nobody has told me anything and I can only assume without any positive feedback that there has been no resolution.”

He said the West Indies Cricket Board was acting as the policeman, judge, jury and executioner in his case. “When I tried to respond to the accusations made against me, I am deemed to be out of place and trying to destroy West Indies cricket.”

Gayle said he now needed to concentrate of providing for his family. “I am now coming close to the end of my shelf-life as a cricketer. On this basis, and not hearing from the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) with any clear pathway forward, I have come to the bitter realisation that I am not wanted by the board and all that has gone before in terms of reconciliation is a sham and a mockery. I see it as a scam to fool the people of the West Indies and the world into believing that they were serious about my returning to West Indies cricket.”

The left-handed batsman said his conscience was clear and he would not allow himself to be the whipping boy of the WICB.

Gayle said, “It is against this background that I have now decided not to wait on the WICB any longer but while I still have the time and the skills to explore the opportunities available to me elsewhere. I do it reluctantly but have no choice. I have people to take care of and cannot sit for months waiting on WICB CEO Ernest Hilaire and the board.”

He kept a window of hope alive though ““Despite all that has happened I am still hopeful that good sense will prevail and I would once again represent my country and my region in near the future.”

Gayle said he had been put in a no-win situation and added the WICB's agenda was to remove him from the team. He rubbished the assertions of those who questioned his commitment. In this regard, he referred to his triple century in the first Test against Sri Lanka in 2010.

After the West Indies' crushing defeat at the hands of Pakistan in the 2011 ODI World Cup quarterfinal, the Board, he said, had targeted him and the other senior players.

On joining Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL-Season IV, he said “I did not turn my back on the West Indies because the West Indies had already turned its back on me. I was not in the squad and it was clear that there was no intention to pick me.”