Captain Gayle returns home

West Indies captain Chris Gayle is due to return home from South Africa, as his hamstring and thumb injuries will not heal in time for him to participate in the ongoing one-day international series.

Gayle damaged his hamstring on the tour of Zimbabwe prior to the South Africa series, though he participated in the first two Tests. In the second Test he was struck on the thumb while batting in the second innings and consequently missed the third Test. West Indies lost the series 2-1.

“Given the most recent prognosis that I will require at least another two weeks of recovery before I could even consider picking up a bat again – furthermore being declared match fit – I have been granted permission by the WICB to return home to Jamaica to concentrate on getting better,” Gayle revealed in his Cricinfo diary.

Allrounder Dwayne Bravo will continue as captain for the rest of the series. Bravo led West Indies in the first ODI, which South Africa won by 6 wickets. But he is struggling from an injury of his own, having suffered a side strain in the Test series. The injury has limited his ability to bowl.

“I had already been feeling quite frustrated at just sitting around and having to watch my team-mates battling out in the middle without any contribution from me,” Gayle said. “This injury update only made me feel worse. I therefore spoke to team management and the WICB chief executive, Dr. Donald Peters, who was here in South Africa, and expressed the view that it would be best for me to head back to the Caribbean immediately and focus on recovering fully.”

The second ODI will be played on Friday at Cape Town.