Such is the impression Chris Gayle has made during his comeback series in England that West Indies head coach Stuart Law has insisted he is ready to give leniency to the hard-hitting opener as far as the selection in the national team is concerned.
Having made his T20I comeback earlier this year, Gayle proved his worth in the ODIs in the recently concluded against England. Making his first appearance in the 50-over format since 2015 World Cup, he scored 173 runs in 4 outings including a 94-run knock which turned out to be more than enough to impress the head coach.
“There are certain players you give leniency to,” Law told ESPNcricinfo. “Chris is one of our greatest-ever players. You have got to pay respect to that. Not saying it is an open draw, but there have got to be certain guidelines, which I am still trying to work out. What I saw in the T20 game in Durham and what I saw in the ODI at The Oval was a guy who was committed to the cause.”
Recalling the T20I in Durham, when Gayle uncharacteristically played the role of the second fiddle, Law mentioned the incident when Gayle walked to his younger partner Evin Lewis and calmed him down when he played three dot balls of Joe Root.
“In Durham, he slowed the play down for a bit while Evin was batting at the other end,” Law said. “Evin was a bit twitchy facing Joe Root. Three dot balls. Chris realised Evin was going to try and hit the next ball for a six. Chris just stopped the play, walked down, had a quick chat and calmed Evin down.”
With West Indies now set to play the qualifiers in a bid to qualify for the 2019 World Cup, Law made it clear that he wants the best players to be available.
In the recent past, Cricket West Indies (CWI) has had a stringent policy of picking only those players who are active in the domestic one-day tournament for 50-over internationals. However, with the World Cup place not at stake, the board has softened its stance.
“I want the best players available,” Law said.
“I am not a selector, but yes, I do sit in on the selection process. There are some qualification criteria that the players have to adhere to. Now the number of games [in domestic cricket] they have to play to qualify has been significantly reduced. That gives them the best of both worlds: they can go out and play certain [T20] tournaments they are already contracted to, but it also gives them time to come back and play the quota [of domestic cricket] they have to be eligible to play ODI cricket,” he added
“The Pro50 finishes about a week before the World Cup Qualifiers, so it would be good to have players play our domestic tournament. They would be playing 50-over cricket before the World Cup Qualifiers, which is essential,” concluded the former Australia player.