Chris Gayle was unanimous choice - Butts

Chairman of selectors Clyde Butts has said that Chris Gayle was the unanimous choice to captain the side to Australia despite being part of the long-drawn contractual dispute between the West Indies' leading players and the region's board.

Butts said the other players considered for the top job included were Ramnaresh Sarwan, Dwayne Bravo (both former captains) and vice-captain Denesh Ramdin. "Those four names were considered for the captaincy of the West Indies team," Butts told Caribbean Media Corporation. "At the end we thought that Chris Gayle was at this time and at this moment the most suitable person to captain West Indies and take them to Australia."

Daren Ganga was spoken of as a potential leader of the team, especially after impressing with his captaincy skills in Trinidad & Tobago's unexpected run to the final of the Champions League Twenty20 last month. However Ganga's modest international record - he averages 25.71 after 48 Tests - meant he didn't even find a place in the squad.

"His name actually came up but I don't think we thought that Daren Ganga at this time would have got into a West Indies team," Butts said. "Looking at the history of his batting and looking at how he has batted over the past year or so in the regional tournament, I don't think he's actually made a lot of runs in the tournament."

Gayle, 30, has not played international cricket since the home series against India in July due to the ugly contractual dispute between WICB and the players' union. In his absence, the selectors fielded depleted teams led by Floyd Reifer against Bangladesh and in the Champions Trophy.

West Indies play three Tests against Australia in December, before returning in February for the limited-overs leg of the tour.