Gayle hopeful of speedy national return

Chris Gayle, who was named the 2010 West Indies Players Association (WIPA) Cricketer of the Year as well as Test Player of the Year during the eighth annual First Citizens WIPA Awards in St Ann's on Thursday night, is hopeful about getting back into the national side "as quickly as possible".

Gayle, who had been omitted from the West Indies limited-overs squad for the Twenty20 and first two ODI games against India, following his ongoing dispute with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) over his controversial radio interview in April, wrote in his column in the Hindustan Times that he wanted the "issue to be sorted out".

"We have a meeting scheduled sometime in the next few days," Gayle wrote, "[and] I want to be involved in the game. But it is out of my control. The WICB people are the ones in charge. I have to see if we can resolve the issue. As I had stated to the board, they have known that I am fully available."

Gayle, who watched the Twenty20 game between West Indies and India in Trinidad on Saturday from the stands, wrote it was "disappointing to actually be on the sidelines" and "strange not to be involved in the game, not to be walking out to open the batting".

"The atmosphere was great but the stands are not a great place to be. I want to be in the middle."

Gayle had called on his fans to give him "a wake up call to go and watch cricket, wake me at 9-30am T&T plz [sic]" on Twitter the day before the match. After the game he tweeted that he had a "blast at cricket...It was really nice to see the support and appreciation by fans...thank you all for d [sic] support!!" During the game he had tweeted "WI Fans..Don't worry about a thing,cause every little things gonna [sic] be alright...", suggesting that that there could soon be a reconciliation between him and the board.

The WICB was angered by Gayle's decision to play in the IPL for Royal Challengers Bangalore but Gayle had said the way he had been treated by the West Indies board (WICB) had left him with little choice but to join Bangalore and miss the home series against Pakistan. Gayle, who ended the IPL as the tournament's top run scorer, called his stint "memorable."

"The people and fans there showed a lot of warmth," he wrote. "That was in contrast to how one's own people fail to recall, tend to forget the things you have done for the team.

"From a player's point of view, that kind of respect is definitely deserved. In your own region you are made to feel like an outsider. It is sad but that is how it is. Yes, here I'm definitely talking about the administration. It is always important that you should feel absolutely relaxed to feel an integral part of an environment."