Gayle in Vice Chancellor’s XI to face Aussies

BRIDGETOWN: Opening batsman Chris Gayle, controversially omitted from the West Indies team for the first two Test matches of the current Cable and Wireless Test series, has been named to face the Australians in a tour match this weekend.

Gayle is included in the University of the West Indies (UWI) Vice Chancellor’s XI for a three-day encounter against the Australians starting on Saturday at the University’s Cave Hill campus, renamed this week, the Three Ws Oval. Philo Wallace, the former Barbados captain and West Indies opening batsman, will captain the Vice Chancellor’s XI that includes Kenya’s leg-spinner Collins Obuya as a guest player. Gayle, generally regarded as the region’s leading opening batsman, has been overlooked so far in the series against Australia, following his decision to join Carl Hooper as the West Indies pair in the World Double-Wicket tournament in St. Lucia earlier this month, instead of representing Jamaica in the Carib Beer Challenge final against Barbados. The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) said his decision to miss the Carib Beer final did not contravene the eligibility rules and team captain Brian Lara said his omission did not concern his decision to play the Double-Wicket tournament.

The 21-year-old Obuya, signed by Warwickshire as one of their overseas players this season, was a star of the World Cup for Kenya during their surprising run to the semi-finals. He picked up 13 wickets in the tournament at an average of 28.76, including five for 24 in their upset victory over Sri Lanka at Nairobi. Other West Indies players Corey Collymore, Ricardo Powell and David Bernard, are also in the squad, along with Jamaican wicket-keeper Matthew Sinclair, and UWI students Dary Balgobin, Maurice Clarke, Jason Haynes, and Dwayne Jordan. Two UWI students will be added to the squad to act as emergency fielders.

Squad: Philo Wallace (captain), Chris Gayle, Dary Balgobin, David Bernard, Ricardo Powell, Matthew Sinclair, Maurice Clarke, Dwayne Jordan, Jason Haynes, Corey Collymore, Andrew Richardson, Collins Obuya.