The WICB-Chris Gayle saga
A chronological sequence of events that make up the long-running spat between Chris Gayle and the West Indies Cricket Board
ESPNcricinfo staff
30-May-2011
Chris Gayle has not played for West Indies since the World Cup • Getty Images
March 23, 2011: West Indies coach Ottis Gibson criticises his senior batsmen following the team's World Cup exit at the quarter-final stage.
April 14, 2011: Chris Gayle is left out of the West Indies squad for the first two one-day internationals against Pakistan, along with fellow senior players Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul.
April 15, 2011: The WICB says the seniors have not been permanently dropped but the board is trying out young players in an attempt to build a team for the 2015 World Cup.
April 16, 2011: The West Indies Players' Association questions the decision to exclude the senior players, saying that the board should now not prevent the players from looking to earn money by playing cricket elsewhere
April 20, 2011: Gayle joins IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore as a replacement for Dirk Nannes, thus ruling himself out of the remaining one-dayers against Pakistan and the subsequent Test series.
April 20, 2011: The WICB express their disappointment over Gayle's decision to choose the IPL over playing for his country, and also say he was undergoing rehabilitation for a side strain.
April 21, 2011: Gayle slams the WICB and West Indies team management in a radio interview with KLAS Sports. He said he had been left with no option but to sign an IPL contract because the West Indies board had disrespected and mistreated him by not contacting him before the Pakistan squad was announced and not checking on his rehabilitation progress. He also accused coach Ottis Gibson of being a "user" and messing with players' minds.
April 26, 2011: WICB chief Ernest Hilaire says the board was upset with Gayle's comments and that they had in fact tried very hard to contact him before announcing the Pakistan squad.
May 12, 2011: The WICB says Gayle had resumed playing competitive cricket without being given clearance by the board-appointed therapists.
May 30, 2011: Gayle is not named in the squad for the first two one-dayers against India. The board says it will not consider Gayle for selection till they meet with him.
June 15, 2001: Gayle's meeting with the WICB takes several ugly turns and ends in a deadlock, putting his West Indies future in serious doubt.
June 22, 2011: Gayle softens his stand and agrees to apologise if he can't substantiate some of the charges he made in his controversial radio interview in April.
July 1, 2011: In a long and emotional public statement, Gayle hits out at the administrators, blaming them for a breakdown in communication with him, and traces the evolution of the long-running and bitter dispute back to 2009. He requests CARICOM to intervene, and says that while he is still available for West Indies, he will be looking at other playing options.
July 5, 2011: The Guyana president and CARICOM get involved in the dispute, seeking to end the long-running impasse between WICB and WIPA.