Gayle return adds interest

Chris Gayle's ability to draw a crowd has been demonstrated once again with Hampshire bringing in an extra 2000 seats for the one-day international on June 16 at West End.

The club's regular seats had already sold out but Gayle's availability, after he ended his impasse with the WICB, has added another layer of interest to the match and it will be Gayle's first international appearance since March 2011. He is the fourth highest-scoring West Indies batsman in ODI cricket with 8,087 runs at an average of 39.06 from 228 matches and was also the leading run-scorer in this year's Indian Premier League with 733 runs.

"Gayle is, without doubt, one of the finest allrounders in limited-overs cricket at the moment and obviously proves a huge draw for fans," Rose Bowl Group commercial director, Zac Toumazi said. "In addition, I think we have a solid fan base of cricket-lovers who come back to the venue year after year because they know how good the ground is at hosting international matches."

The ODI on June 16 will also see the two main stands at West End unveiled under new names. Shane Warne, who played for the county from 2000 to 2007, and Colin Ingleby-Mackenzie, the County Championship-winning captain of 1961, will be honoured with stands bearing their names.