Gayle not to be written off

Gayle not to be written off
Associated Press / Rick Rycroft, File

West Indies head coach Stuart Law has warned cricket pundits not to write off Chris Gayle because he may not have fired in the recent limited overs series against New Zealand.

The 38-year-old Gayle managed scores of 22 and 4 in his two one-day appearances while mustering 12 and 0 in his two Twenty20 international outings.

Law said the aging Jamaican’s failure in the series did not reflect the quality of the player.

“Write him off at your own peril,” he told reporters.

He said Gayle did not click this series because he had a viral infection in the One-Day Internationals and, while Twenty20 is probably his best format, he didn’t get the stats he wanted.

Gayle is the most experienced player in the West Indies limited overs, with 275 One-Day Internationals and 55 Twenty20s under his belt.

However, he only returned to the One-Day Internationalss side for the tour of England after more than two years on the sidelines, and looked in good touch in gathering 163 runs from four innings.

West Indies batting coach Toby Radford believes conditions in New Zealand had been behind Gayle’s poor performance but he is backing the superstar opener to come good.

Gayle has already indicated he wants to play in next year’s 50-overs World Cup in England.