Gayle to return by month-end

Gayle, 26, is still recuperating from the minor heart surgery he had while on tour of Australia in November and he is anxious to resume playing cricket.

The tall left-hander was scheduled to begin light training this week and will miss his country’s Carib Beer Series fixtures this month against Trinidad and Tobago (January 6-9) and Barbados (January 13-16).

He aims to make his return to competitive cricket in Jamaica’s home match against Guyana starting January 27 at Chedwin Park, just outside Kingston.

"I’ll be missing both matches against Trinidad and Barbados, and hopefully against Guyana I’ll be ready. I am just trying to get myself into condition and hopefully things will get better from here on," Gayle said in an interview with CVM Television.

Gayle, who played for Worcestershire in the English County Championship on a short-term contract last summer, has played 54 Test matches and 123 One-Day International (ODI) matches, and he admitted that time away from the game has been frustrating.

"I am looking to be back into the game, it’s been a while and it’s getting a bit frustrating. As you all know, I want to play cricket and I’ll see what happens from here on," Gayle said.

After being forced to leave the field due to his heart problem in the Second Test against Australia, Gayle underwent surgery on November 23 in Melbourne and missed the final Test in Adelaide.

He says the chance of the problem recurring is very slim. "According to the doctor, there is (only) one in a hundred percent chance that the problem might come back," said Gayle, who is ranked number six in the world’s ODI batting rankings. With 4,416 runs, he has an average of 38.73 in ODIs, and a 38.79 average and 3,569 runs in Test cricket.