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The India fast bowler, who is set to play his last international on November 1, said he is happy to call time on his career when people are asking ‘why and not why not’

Arun Venugopal12-Oct-2017Ashish Nehra had been thinking about retirement plans for a while, but his non-inclusion in the first XI for the first two T20Is against Australia might have hastened the call. He also said that playing for India was always motivation for him, which is why he has retired from all official cricket. He will end his 18-year international career with the T20I against New Zealand at the Feroz Shah Kotla, his home ground, on November 1.”No particular reason. At one point everyone knows [that it is time to quit]. It’s not an overnight decision,” Nehra said on the eve of the final T20I against Australia. “It’s my own decision. I have given it a good thought. When I came into this series, I had come prepared to bowl. The day I linked up with this squad, I spoke to the captain and coach about my plan because whenever Ashish Nehra is in the side he plays in the XI, he doesn’t sit out. We’ve seen that in the T20s over the last couple of years.”I feel Bhuvneshwar [Kumar] is ready, the way he has been bowling. And there is no big event in the next five or six months, like a World Cup. I think this is the way forward, especially the manner in which Bhuvneshwar has been bowling in the last couple of years, whenever I’ve played with [Jasprit] Bumrah, either of Bhuvi or [Mohammed] Shami have had to sit out. So I think this is the right time [to retire] and I think people are welcoming it. I came prepared to play in this series, but I also put across my point of view. If they ask me to play in the XI, I’m available.”It’s very important to me what people in the dressing room think. Now, they say you can easily play for one more year. I’ve been a believer of the fact that it’s always good to retire when people ask why and not why not. And it can’t get bigger than the fact that I’m retiring at home. I played my first Ranji game there 20 years ago.”Nehra said he had first sounded out captain Virat Kohli and head coach Ravi Shastri about his intention to retire before going through with his decision. “Like I said, I put my point of view to them,” he said. “This is how I feel and this is my thought. Obviously, I could still play. But the first thing Virat said was you can still play, then second thing he said you could play IPL. It’s good that people still think I can play. It was a tough decision for me, but they all respect my decision.”While Nehra’s career will be remembered for being ridden with injuries, he also gained a reputation for making stirring comebacks out of nowhere. His most recent comeback in 2016 after being out of the team for five years marked the start of one of the more successful phases of his career. Since the start of 2016, Nehra has picked 21 wickets from 18 T20Is at an average of 21.66. Nehra also enjoyed a successful World T20 campaign where he was India’s joint-highest wicket-taker with five scalps from five games going at less than six runs per over. In the IPL, too, over the last few years, he has been one of the go-to fast bowlers for captains – first for MS Dhoni at Chennai Super Kings and then David Warner at Sunrisers Hyderabad. Nehra said his ability to bounce back from injuries made a difference to his life off the field as well.”For me the true measure of success is how many times you bounce back from failure,” he said. “When you are always on top, you don’t know how to come back up after a failure. People have always said that you’ve had 11-12 surgeries, how you made a comeback despite that. But they have made me mentally strong. When you make a century or take a five-for, everyone is with you but your character comes when you are not doing well and bounce back from it. It has made a difference even in my normal life, apart from my cricketing life.”[My second coming since 2016] has been great. Like, in between, unfortunately, the problem in India is people count you as playing only when you are playing international cricket or the IPL. In India, only 15 [players] can play at a time, and if you combine all formats maybe 20-25. I was still playing IPL regularly. Last two-three years has been a great journey. I always feel it is not how you start, but how you finish.”Every individual has certain strengths and certain weaknesses. I was always mentally strong. I am that sort of a person who trains day in and day out to play for India. Like I said, I could have played easily one more year of international cricket. People said you are retiring in November, you can still play the next IPL which is just five months away. But it’s my decision that if I leave, I will leave completely, I won’t even play the IPL.”While any highlights reel of Nehra would unfailingly feature his spell of 6 for 23 against England in the 2003 World Cup, the man himself felt he couldn’t point to one standout memory from his career. “When you are playing cricket, every day is a memory,” he said. “This is something you are doing day in and day out. People will always remember you for moments in international cricket. But, for me there are times in domestic cricket or the IPL, when you may not pick up wickets but you still enjoy. When it comes to cricket world or media, people remember Ashish Nehra bowling the last over in Karachi or the six wickets against England. But for me those are not the only memories. Because in cricket you win some, you lose some. I will always go thinking that I must be doing something good so that captain asks me to bowl the last over. Result might not go your way. For me playing for India, winning the World Cup [in 2011], losing the [2003] final, T20I world cup, I have seen all the ups and downs.”Nehra said he hadn’t given his post-retirement life a thought yet and that he had made plans only for November 1. “I haven’t thought of it yet. All those options are open, either coaching or mentoring. I haven’t decided yet. I am always somebody who takes one series at a time,” he said.Nehra, however, ruled out any possibility of a comeback. “I am not playing IPL, so you can judge me from that,” he said. “So many people will play one or two years or IPL [after retiring from international cricket]. Once I’ve decided something then it’s final, there is no going back on that. I always said, never say never, but it’s not applicable in this case.”

Afghanistan have withdrawn from a proposed one-day series against Ireland next month due to a clash with their domestic T20 competition

Danyal Rasool07-Jun-2017Afghanistan have withdrawn from a proposed one-day series against Ireland next month due to a clash with their domestic T20 competition.Ireland, who lost 3-2 in their last ODI encounter with Afghanistan in Greater Noida in March, had hoped to host a three-match return series in Belfast in July.However, the Afghanistan Cricket Board have informed Cricket Ireland that they’re not in a position to approve the tour, due to a clash with preparations for their domestic franchise T20 event.”Of course, our preference is to give as many opportunities as possible to our senior men to play our closest rivals on our home turf, so we are disappointed the matches won’t proceed in July,” said a Cricket Ireland spokesperson.”We have enjoyed two very competitive recent ODI series against Afghanistan in Belfast and India. Hopefully we will continue to work with the ACB to see if there are further opportunities to reschedule the matches at a later date.”Afghanistan Cricket Board CEO Shafiq Stanikzai said the series, which Ireland had proposed, had never been officially approved.”The proposal came from Cricket Ireland, to play them in three ODIs before our MCC game [on July 11],” Stanikzai told ESPNcricinfo. “We agreed in February or March, and the tour was approved by the ACB. Then it was kept on hold by Cricket Ireland, because they were waiting for the ICC board meeting. About two weeks ago, they approached us again to ask if we could go ahead and play this series. This time, the board didn’t give us permission because the team is busy, plus we have the T20 franchise tournament coming up.”The timing of the series proposal from Ireland was particularly inconvenient for Afghanistan, who are playing a limited-overs series in West Indies, which concludes on June 14.”The team has been playing for three months continuously,” Stanikzai said. “It makes no sense to come back from West Indies to Kabul for ten days, and then go back to Ireland. We need proper preparation for an Ireland series. We can’t have the team in Afghanistan for ten days and go straight back into competition phase. It would have been great if we could go straight from the West Indies to Ireland because then preparation would not be an issue. But since the proposed dates [from Cricket Ireland] were July 1-9, the schedule just didn’t work out for us.”Stanikzai stressed that the cancellation of the tour did not sour relations with Cricket Ireland, at least from the ACB’s point of view.”Ireland are our closest rivals, and we would like to play them more and more. We will be looking in the future for an opportunity to play Ireland. We will draw up a schedule with Ireland when we meet them at the Annual General Meeting in June to see when we can play each other again, hopefully in the latter part of this year. Our relations with Ireland are very friendly, and we want them to remain that way.”ESPNcricinfo understands that Afghanistan’s maiden fixture at Lord’s, when they take on an MCC side led by Brendon McCullum on July 11, is unaffected by this decision.

Following his side’s 3-0 defeat to India, New Zealand captain Kane Williamson said he is disappointed but was thankful for the experience, which he felt would help the players take their game forward

Sidharth Monga in Indore11-Oct-20163:06

‘Ashwin is best in exposing conditions’ – Williamson

After losing all the Tests in a series they would have been hopeful of doing well in, Kane Williamson managed to retain some humour, but he knew his side was done in by a mix of difficult conditions for them, the quality of their opposition in those conditions, and their own lack of application at times. In packed schedules nowadays, you hardly get time to acclimatise, which means you don’t have too many second chances. The most disappointing aspect for New Zealand will be that when they got a surface in Indore that resembled classic Indian pitches, they couldn’t bat for long enough. It didn’t help that they never won a toss, and India always were in the ascendency.When asked about R Ashwin’s hold on him – the leading wicket-taker of the series took out Williamson all four times he batted – Williamson joked: “He didn’t get me out 27 times. He got a few other blokes out too.”On a serious note, Williamson did make a mention of the conditions. “He’s a good bowler,'” Williamson said of Ashwin. “We’re always learning playing internationals. I guess it’s a new thing, personally as well. Come over here with so much rough, which is nice to bowl into. I suppose I was a victim of it a few times. I guess, when you are put in that situation where you are dismissed in a similar situation, you are able to learn and try to improve from that. The conditions guys are exposed to, and the quality of bowling, in a backhanded way, we can be thankful for those experiences that help move your game forward.”Even before the season began, India had a good chance of going unbeaten through a long season of 13 home Tests. New Zealand, on paper, seemed the team likeliest to challenge India, which will now make India look invincible this season. Williamson, though, felt – and it did bring out some laughs – that the toss can be crucial in these conditions. The previous home season had a shift in the pitches India play on, and they have won all seven tosses since then.”Winning the toss would be helpful, I think,” Williamson said, when asked what advice he could give to the teams that are following him in India’s home season. “Which is a challenge in itself: South Africa lost every toss as well. Certainly have to be at your best. Whether you win the toss, lose the toss, India were far superior in this series. It depends on the surfaces. Every surface has been different in this series, they were different in the South Africa series. Whether it is a good one… it is important to spend time at the crease, creating pressure. Batting first would be nice. It would help, certainly, in being more competitive. This India side is a very good team, and they certainly know these conditions better than anyone.”Williamson said that while the conditions were more difficult when they batted in Indore, this was a pitch where they could have played more assured cricket. Speaking on finding the right balance between defence and attack, Williamson said: “It is a challenge, certainly on wickets very conducive to spin that make attacking tough as well. Sometimes, being positive when it is doing a little bit more is the way forward. It is up to the individual how they want to skin it, but in this Test, which was probably a little bit more like Test matches of old where it’s that war of attrition and you have to play long game like India showed, as opposed to Test matches prior, where 300 was a very good score, where you go out there and play positively and you get them before they get you, here was a little bit different.”They exploited conditions better than us. They played very patiently with the bat, and batting was not easy when it came our time. Not just because conditions had deteriorated, but the very good bowling attack they have. Important that we come away from here, although frustrated, having learnt a huge amount as a young group being exposed in these conditions.”Williamson didn’t shy away from giving India the credit and said he was disappointed his team couldn’t adapt quickly enough, but added that in conditions so challenging he felt the need to send players early for more experience.”The more you can play in these conditions, the better you’ll be,” Williamson said. “That has to be a given. The more experiences you get in any conditions, it is a good thing. People talk a lot about county cricket and then, when you go to England, you certainly are far more aware of what to expect. I suppose this is no different. If guys can have more experience in these conditions, it will certainly be helpful.”When asked if he felt his side had spent enough time here before the series, Williamson brought up the practical issue of the packed schedules. “I suppose there is always those discussions,” Williamson said. “Another tough point as well is that you are playing so much international cricket, it is tricky to get that extra preparation you would like. So, you are having to learn on the job a bit, which is the nature of the beast, but at the same time, it is an important thing. Whether it’s ‘A’ teams where guys are able to get extra time to come over, particularly in these conditions where you are playing more and more cricket. India’s home summer this year is 13 Test matches. So you are playing more and more in these conditions.”New Zealand now have the five-ODI series to look forward to, which will be played on flatter surfaces. Williamson hoped the team doesn’t carry the scars of losing the Tests into that series. “Disappointing to lose the Test series,” he said. “At the same time, the guys are looking forward to the change of format. It will be tough again. We know India are a very good side at that as well. It’s exciting. We know that wickets will more than likely be quite different again.”We have got to adapt. Go out and play with that freedom, knowing that when we do play with that freedom, we play our best cricket. There will be a little bit of scarring coming out of a three-nil Test defeat. Obviously winning is a lot better than losing. Unfortunately we have lost a few on the trot, but nice to have new personnel come in who are fresh and looking forward to the one-day series.”

BCCI president Anurag Thakur today slammed former selection committee chief Sandeep Patil for revealing confidential details about Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni and others

PTI27-Sep-2016BCCI president Anurag Thakur today slammed former selection committee chief Sandeep Patil, saying it was “unethical” on his part to reveal certain confidential details about Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni and others after his tenure ended earlier this month.Thakur stopped short of saying that action will be taken against Patil but said “right people in the BCCI” will speak to him soon over the issue which has created a major controversy.Patil, a former international cricketer, recently disclosed that the selection panel would have dropped Sachin Tendulkar before he eventually quit international cricket and that it had also considered removing MS Dhoni from ODI captaincy ahead of the 2015 World Cup.”Let me make it very clear. Sandeep, being a former chairman, should not have made these comments. When he was the chairman, he replied differently to the same questions. But after that [his tenure], it was different. It was totally unethical of him to do that,” Thakur told .”One should refrain from making such unethical and unwanted comments in this area [selection matters]. It is because he has been trusted to become the chairman, because he has played enough cricket. There were four more selectors with him; they did not say anything. He should have avoided that,” the BCCI president said.Asked whether any action was being contemplated by the BCCI against Patil over the breach of confidentiality, he said, “The right people in the BCCI will speak to him soon.”Thakur went to the extent of saying such a breach of confidentiality would make it difficult for any of future employers of Patil to trust him.”Any organisation, if they hire him, will think ten times that after leaving the organisation, he will speak about the organisation,” Thakur said.Patil’s four-year tenure ended when the panel announced the 15-man squad for the ongoing Test series against New Zealand.

Brendon McCullum will lead a 13-man New Zealand squad for the home ODI series against Australia beginning February 3 in Auckland

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Jan-20161:18

‘Important McCullum plays if fit’ – Hesson

Brendon McCullum will lead a 13-man New Zealand squad for the home ODI series against Australia beginning February 3 in Auckland. McCullum has been out with a back injury since the second ODI against Sri Lanka on December 28 but is set to return to the side for the third ODI against Pakistan on Sunday. The series against Australia will be McCullum’s last in limited-overs internationals.If McCullum isn’t ready by the start of the three-match ODI series, Tom Latham has been named as cover for the New Zealand captain. Coach Mike Hesson is counting on New Zealand’s depth to come through in their bid to retain the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy as they continue without the services of Ross Taylor, Tim Southee and Mitchell McClenaghan due to injury.Southee is expected to recover from his foot in time for the Tests, and has begun training with the New Zealand team. He may also play a Plunket Shield match against Central Stags, from February 5-8. Taylor’s recovery is more difficult to predict, Hesson said.”Ross is making progress. It’s a little bit hard to put a time-frame on it. He’s still seeing a specialist and making some good progress. We’re hopeful for the first Test, but it’s certainly not guaranteed at this stage.”New Zealand have had several players affected by injury over the past three weeks, but have won four out of five completed ODIs in their home summer so far. The tour against Australia represents the climax of their season.”This is a pinnacle event for us and we’ll look to get our best side out on the park each time we play,” said Hesson. “We’ve been lucky enough to use a big squad over the summer and although we’re missing a few key players, we have guys who can step in and we know are up to the task. The Chappell Hadlee Trophy is something we want to hold on to. The rivalry between these two sides is huge and it’s going to be three intense games in front of some big crowds.”New Zealand ODI squad: Brendon McCullum (capt), Martin Guptill, Kane Williamson, Henry Nicholls, Grant Elliott, Corey Anderson, Colin Munro, Luke Ronchi (wk), Mitchell Santner, Trent Boult, Doug Bracewell, Adam Milne, Matt Henry

The BCCI has retained a base price of Rs 2 crore (approx. $320,000) per international match while inviting bids for a series-title sponsor for all the major matches played in India

Amol Karhadkar19-Sep-2013The BCCI has retained a base price of Rs 2 crore (approx. $320,000) per international match while inviting bids for a series-title sponsor for all the major matches played in India, in place of Bharti Airtel, the telecommunication company that decided not to renew its contract for the same.The board decided to float a tender for the period beginning October 1 to March 31, 2014, which includes at least 13 international matches. The winning bidder, though, will then get the first right to extend the agreement till March 31, 2018.After Bharti Airtel decided not to extend their contract, the BCCI’s marketing committee, which was presided over by president N Srinivasan in the absence of its chairman Farooq Abdullah, finalised the invitation to tender (ITT) document. The ITT will be available to “only corporate entities with a turnover of Rs 100 crore, for performance deposit of Rs 3 crore” at Rs 2 lakh. The bids will be opened in the presence of all the bidders on October 3.While the media statement issued by BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel didn’t specify the base price, a summary of the ITT document that was finalised at the meeting, accessed by ESPNcricinfo, recommended “to have the same base price of Rs 2 crore as the tender done in 2010”.While barring agents from representing corporate houses, the BCCI decided to allow consortia bids. “It is recommended that the consortia is allowed to bid for the title sponsor with consortia members nominating the title sponsor and other associate sponsor during the time of the bid,” the marketing committee suggested.Besides being awarded the title sponsorship of all the senior domestic tournaments barring the Challenger Trophy, which will be played in September, and the domestic Twenty20, the winning bidder will also be able to avail 28 other rights. Some of the prominent ones include: “Integration into the event logo and the use of all official marks; right to put up to 12 advertising boards of standard size (approx. 3ft x 20ft) in the stadium at all matches and the right to nominate the positioning of these 12 boards; exclusive branding on the stumps; and non-exclusive branding on the BCCI’s website”.The marketing committee also took into consideration the current title sponsorship deals of Cricket South Africa, Cricket Australia and the ECB. It noted that CA awards Test sponsorship for $2.4mn and ODI sponsorship for $0.8mn, the ECB awards Tests for $1.07mn and ODIs and T20s for $0.25mn, and CSA’s sponsorship is priced at $0.45mn per Test, $0.5mn per ODI and $0.3mn per T20.

Top cricketers in Bangladesh have threatened to “stay away” from this season’s Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League after the BCB proposed a change in the players’ transfer system

Mohammad Isam17-Jun-2013Top cricketers in Bangladesh have threatened to “stay away” from this season’s Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League after the BCB proposed a change in the players’ transfer system. The Dhaka Premier League is a city-based domestic one-day competition and is the country’s most popular league.Cricketers’ Welfare Association of Bangladesh, the players’ body, announced the decision after a long discussion with the players on Monday afternoon. They complained about the lack of communication from the BCB, which announced on Sunday that the new system of player transfer – similar to the draft system that is used in American sports – will take place on June 23. The league is slated to begin on July 3.Former Bangladesh player Rajin Saleh read out CWAB’s letter, but Debabbrata Paul, the secretary, said that there was never any official discussion between the two sides, which was one of the reasons for their plan to stay away.”We gave our observations to the Cricket Committee of Dhaka Metropolis (CCDM) in a letter, but they never replied,” Paul said. “We got to know of it from the media that they will start a gradation and rotation policy. So today we took a decision after speaking to the players that we will stay away from the competition.”The BCB never sat with us, so we don’t really know where our differences are. There was no official discussion with them. I had a personal talk with Jalal Yunus, the CCDM chairman.”The main reason for the row is the new players’ transfer system, which replaces the traditional way in which the players negotiated a fee for one season with a Dhaka-based club to play in the tournament.Instead, the players were divided into categories according to a pay structure that started from Tk 22 lakh ($28,300 approximately) for the A+ group of players. A lottery would decide which club gets to pick first from the top category, and after all 12 clubs picked players from that particular category, the next pick would go to the club who selected last in the first category. From there it would proceed sequentially in the next categories.According to CWAB, clubs picking players was against the spirit of the competition and also curbed the players’ freedom to choose which club to play for.”The new system was forgoing the traditional way of players’ transfers and replacing it with a new system of grading and rotation,” CWAB’s statement said. “There was not only financial loss for the players, but professional freedom was hampered.”The BCB didn’t take any immediate action, merely saying that they want an official letter from CWAB. It is also not clear what action the BCB are likely to take against their contracted cricketers, including Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah, who have effectively opposed the board’s decision.Acting CEO Nizamuddin Ahmed said that they still haven’t received any word from the CWAB regarding their latest action. “We haven’t received the players’ decision formally. We will discuss the situation once we receive it.”Otherwise we have pitched a tentative date for the Premier League to start, which is on July 3. We have spoken to players and the players association informally.”

A round-up of Regional Super50 matches played on March 11, 2013

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Mar-2013
ScorecardCombined Campuses and Colleges scraped to a three-wicket win over Leeward Islands in a low-scoring match in Bridgetown on Monday.Set a paltry target of 116, CCC struggled with their chase, losing seven wickets before they passed Leewards’ score in the 33rd over. Shacaya Thomasplayed an important role in the victory: his 61 accounted for more than half of the team’s runs, even as the other batsmen failed to reach a score of 20.Earlier, Leewards Islands were bowled out for 115 after choosing to bat first. Offpsinner Ryan Austin, who played an important role in CCC’s victory over Leewards in the Regional Four Day Competition, once again led the bowling attack, conceding 24 runs in his 10 overs and picking up two wickets. Left-arm spinner Derone Davis picked up three wickets, while Nekoli Parris picked up two wickets.The win helped CCC move to third place in the table, behind Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago.
ScorecardJamaica’s bowlers set up a 78-run win after a collective batting failure led to Windward Islands folding for 151 chasing 230 for victory.Windwards never recovered from their poor start and were struggling at 2 for 2 early on in the innings, before Andre Fletcher, Miles Bascombe and Liam Sebastien tried bringing some momentum into the chase. The partnerships they added, however, failed to put Windwards’ chase on track and the team were eventually bowled out in the 39th over. Odean Brown’s domination over Windwards’ batsmen continued as the legspinner picked up 3 for 19 in 7 overs.Earlier, Jamaica, who were put into bat, lost opener Simon Jackson in the second ball of the match, but recovered through an 88-run second-wicket partnership between Nkruma Bonner (39) and Danza Hyatt (59). Carlton Baugh and Andre Russell added some important runs towards the end, as Jamaica posted a total of 229.
ScorecardTrinidad & Tobago won a close match against Guyana by two wickets in Port of Spain. Although T&T chased down the Guyana target of 235 in 45 overs, they lost eight wickets in the process, giving Guyana a chance right till the end.Fifties from captain Christopher Barnwell and Devendra Bishoo helped Guyana put up 234 on the board after they were struggling at 117 for 7 in the 28th over. The pair added 107 runs for the eighth wicket, to help Guyana pass 200. Barnwell, whose last significant innings for Guyana came in the Caribbean T20 competition, struck a solid 66 off 100 balls, including four fours and two sixes. Bishoo excelled in the supporting act, hitting an unbeaten 52 with four fours and one six.In reply, T&T kept up with the chase in spite of losing regular wickets. Adrian Barath guided the chase, scoring 65 off 80 balls. T&T stuttered briefly after Barath fell with the score at 180 for 6, but a brisk 28 from Sunil Narine ensured that T&T remained unbeaten in the Regional Super50 Competition.

Fast bowler Umesh Yadav is unlikely to be fit in time for final match of the India-England Test series, which begins in Nagpur on December 13, as he is taking longer than originally expected to recover from a lower back injury

Amol Karhadkar08-Dec-2012Fast bowler Umesh Yadav is unlikely to be fit in time for final match of the India-England Test series, which begins in Nagpur on December 13, as he is taking longer than originally expected to recover from a lower-back injury.With India all but certain to reach Nagpur in a must-win situation, this comes as a blow for an Indian attack that that has been plundered over the last two Tests. Yadav was the pick of India’s fast bowlers in the first Test in Ahmedabad, but was then ruled out with injury for “at least for 10 days”.The prognosis for the injury has been ambiguous; while one specialist had put forward the 10-day recuperation period, another had advised him rest for three months. Now, a day before the selectors are to choose the squad for the final Test, ESPNcricinfo has learnt that the fast bowler will surely be unavailable for the game. He is also unlikely to recover in time for the England Twenty20s and the Pakistan limited-overs series’ that follow.”This will be disappointing for him not just because it [the Nagpur game] is his home Test, but also because the team needs him badly,” a source said, adding it would be “a miracle” if he features in the Pakistan series.With Yadav unavailable, Sandeep Patil and his colleagues in the selection panel don’t have much to choose from as far as pace bowling is concerned. But it remains to be seen if the selectors take tough calls on a batting line-up that has faltered time and again in the series.

Chris Gayle has pulled out of his Twenty20 contract with Somerset, declaring himself committed to playing for West Indies in all forms of the game

ESPNcricinfo staff03-May-2012Chris Gayle has pulled out of his Twenty20 contract with Somerset, declaring himself committed to playing for West Indies in all forms of the game. The move could smooth the way for Gayle to return to the West Indies side for the upcoming tour of England, which would end a year-long standoff between Gayle and the WICB that stemmed from comments he made about the board in a radio interview last April.Gayle was not chosen in the Test squad for the England tour but after progress was made in reaching a resolution between the two parties, he was considered to have a chance to be selected for the three ODIs that follow the Tests. However, those matches clash with the Friends Life t20, a tournament for which Gayle had agreed to play with Somerset, and the WICB chief executive Ernest Hilaire said Gayle could not be considered unless he categorically made himself available.”I wish to advise that as of today, May 2nd, 2012, I have written to Somerset CC and advised them that I will not be honouring the commitment I made to them when I signed a contract with them for the 2012 [Friends Life t20]. I made it clear to them that my decision was made because of my commitment to West Indies cricket and to West Indies cricket fans, and because … I believe that it is time for the WICB to make a decision which will provide a clearer view of my own future,” Gayle said in a statement.”I understand that by making this decision, it may place me in a position of considerable risk, since I am foregoing a signed contract, without any guarantees whatsoever, with only the hope that I will be selected to play for the West Indies again. I have now satisfied all of the requests of the WICB and their selection panel, with whom I met via teleconference yesterday, and to whom I reiterated previous assurances given to the board regarding my availability.”So that there is no doubt, I confirmed to the selectors that I was available for West Indies duty in all forms of cricket, immediately following the conclusion of my contractual obligations to my IPL franchise, Royal Challengers Bangalore. This has been a difficult time, and I wish to sincerely thank everyone who has supported me, my family and friends, and in particular cricket fans worldwide who have continued to show appreciation for me wherever I have played. I look forward to once again putting on the maroon, and resuming my international career and my service to West Indies cricket.”Gayle has not played for West Indies since the 2011 World Cup, but he has been in outstanding form in the IPL. He is third on the tournament’s run tally and has scored 81, 87, 4, 86 and 71 from his past five innings.Edited by Brydon Coverdale