Gayle and Edwards gear up for short IPL stint

Chris Gayle and Fidel Edwards will be appearing for the Kolkata Knight Riders and the Deccan Chargers respectively in this season's IPL, but will be available for a little less than two weeks. With both West Indian players expected to arrive in England for the return series no later than May 1, their IPL stints are expected to last just 12 days.

There were concerns that West Indies' best players would not have been available for the tour, which begins with a three-day tour match against Leicestershire on April 21, after some of them signed deals to appear in the IPL. However, with the first Test scheduled at Lord's from May 6, a window has opened up for the players to turn out for their respective franchises in the tournament being played in South Africa from April 18-May 24.

"We have named 17 players because we have got a couple of our players going off to play in the IPL," Clyde Butts, the West Indies chairman of selectors, said while announcing the squad. "Gayle and Edwards will travel to the IPL and will join the squad just before the first Test."

One of the complaints which the players raised in their recent dispute with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) was the ruling body's unilateral decision to stage the tour which was organised last October without their consultation and would be contested in direct conflict with the IPL.

The series was arranged bilaterally between the WICB and the ECB, following the withdrawal of Sri Lanka - whose players demanded that they be allowed to play in the IPL.

West Indies are scheduled to play two Tests and three ODIs on the tour of England which ends on May 26. Their next assignment is the World Twenty20 to be held in the same country from June 5.