Decision on Gayle's future delayed

Chris Gayle's expected return to the West Indies team has been delayed after no decision could be arrived at during Monday's high-level meeting, which was expected to resolve the year-long dispute between the player and the West Indies Cricket Board. Chaired by Prime Minister of St Vincent, Ralph Gonsalves, the meeting was also attended by WICB chief executive, Ernest Hilaire and officials from CARICOM.

A resolution would have seen the former captain available for West Indies team's ongoing series against Australia, which continues till April 27. Gayle, however, is contracted to represent Bangalore Royal Challengers in this year's IPL from April 4 to May 27 and county side Somerset, in the English Twenty20 tournament. The clash of dates between the West Indies team's international commitments (the current series is followed by a tour of England between May 5 and June 24) and Gayle's contractual obligations could be a possible reason for the delay in the talks.

Before the meeting, the Jamaica Gleaner had reported that Gayle was likely to either submit an apology or retract his comments made against the board and the coach Ottis Gibson during a radio interview.

In February, the WICB chief executive Ernest Hilaire said he wanted Gayle to make his priorities clear, saying that Gayle could not ask for unconditional no-objection certificates (NOCs) to play domestic Twenty20 tournaments around the world and simultaneously make himself available for West Indies selection.

Gayle attended Runako Morton's funeral in St Kitts on Saturday and was spotted in the stands during West Indies' second ODI against Australia, in St Vincent. He last played for West Indies in the 2011 World Cup, and has since taken part in Twenty20 leagues around the world, including the IPL, the Big Bash League in Australia and the BPL in Bangladesh. He has turned out for Jamaica in the domestic one-day and four-day competitions. He was left out of the WICB's 30-man squad for a fitness and training camp ahead of the home series against Australia.