West Indies players and officials - select an initial letter: A -
B -
C -
D -
E -
F -
G -
H -
I -
J -
K -
L -
M -
N -
O -
P -
Q -
R -
S -
T -
U -
V -
W -
Y -
Z
Full name Christopher Henry Gayle
Born September 21, 1979, Kingston, Jamaica
Current age 28 years 238 days
Major teams West Indies,ICC World XI,Jamaica,Kolkata Knight Riders,Worcestershire
Playing role Batsman
Batting style Left-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm offbreak
Batting and fielding averages
Mat
Inns
NO
Runs
HS
Ave
BF
SR
100
50
4s
6s
Ct
St
Tests
72
129
5
4764
317
38.41
8336
57.14
7
29
748
39
74
0
ODIs
179
174
12
6307
153*
38.93
7880
80.03
15
35
764
99
83
0
T20Is
5
5
0
193
117
38.60
117
164.95
1
1
18
11
2
0
First-class
146
262
20
10518
317
43.46
23
55
132
0
List A
235
230
18
8375
153*
39.50
17
49
103
0
Twenty20
13
12
2
322
117
32.20
253
127.27
1
1
32
15
6
0
Bowling averages
Mat
Inns
Balls
Runs
Wkts
BBI
BBM
Ave
Econ
SR
4w
5w
10
Tests
72
79
5603
2486
63
5/34
6/81
39.46
2.66
88.9
2
2
0
ODIs
179
149
6020
4671
146
5/46
5/46
31.99
4.65
41.2
3
1
0
T20Is
5
3
51
53
2
2/22
2/22
26.50
6.23
25.5
0
0
0
First-class
146
10879
4506
120
5/34
37.55
2.48
90.6
2
0
List A
235
8014
5943
199
5/46
5/46
29.86
4.44
40.2
4
1
0
Twenty20
13
10
183
184
12
3/13
3/13
15.33
6.03
15.2
0
0
0
Career statistics
Test debut
West Indies v Zimbabwe at Port of Spain, Mar 16-20, 2000 scorecard
Last Test
West Indies v Sri Lanka at Port of Spain, Apr 3-6, 2008 scorecard
Test statistics
ODI debut
India v West Indies at Toronto, Sep 11, 1999 scorecard
Last ODI
West Indies v Sri Lanka at Gros Islet, Apr 15, 2008 scorecard
ODI statistics
T20I debut
New Zealand v West Indies at Auckland, Feb 16, 2006 scorecard
Last T20I
Bangladesh v West Indies at Johannesburg, Sep 13, 2007 scorecard
T20I statistics
First-class debut
1998/99
Last First-class
West Indies v Sri Lanka at Port of Spain, Apr 3-6, 2008 scorecard
List A debut
1998/99
Last List A
West Indies v Sri Lanka at Gros Islet, Apr 15, 2008 scorecard
Twenty20 debut
Chilaw Marians Cricket Club v PCA Masters XI at Leicester, Sep 15, 2005 scorecard
Last Twenty20
Jamaica v Trinidad & Tobago at Coolidge, Feb 24, 2008 scorecard
Profile
A thrusting Jamaican left-hander, Gayle earned himself a black mark on his first senior tour - to England in 2000 - where the new boys were felt to be insufficiently respectful of their elders. But a lack of respect, for opposition bowlers at least, has served Gayle well since then. Tall and imposing at the crease, he loves to carve through the covers off either foot, and has the ability to decimate the figures of even the thriftiest of opening bowlers. In a lean era for West Indian cricket - and fast bowling in particular - Gayle's pugnacious approach has become an attacking weapon in its own right. His 79-ball century at Cape Town in January 2004, on the back of a South African first innings of 532, was typical of his no-holds-barred approach. However, Gayle's good run ended when England came calling early in 2004, and he averaged 26 against their potent pace attack - Steve Harmison, in particular, fancied his chances against Gayle, dismissing him four times in seven innings, as a lack of positive footwork was exposed. But men with little footwork often baffle experts, and after returning to form with an uncharacteristic century against Bangladesh, he exacted his revenge on England's bowlers with a battering not seen since Lara's 400, before coming within a whisker of emulating Lara himself, with a career-best 317 against South Africa in Antigua. In the disastrous 2005-06 tour of New Zealand he led the batting in the three-Test series, piling 235 runs - no other West Indian touched the 200-run mark. He also bowls brisk non-turning offspin, with which he has turned himself into a genuine one-day allrounder. Maturing quickly, he has become a consistently prolific scorer in the ODIs. He averaged over 40 in the 2006-07 season with three hundreds - an unbeaten 133 against South Africa in the Champions Trophy being the highlight, and three fifties. But expected to be one of the stars of the World Cup in the Caribbean, his batting was a major disappointment. In the absence of the injured Ramnaresh Sarwan for their tour in 2007, Gayle was handed the captaincy for the limited-overs series in England and Ireland and found immediate success by beating England 2-1. He also led in the Test series against South Africa, leaving with a 1-1 result, and was retained as captain ahead of Sarwan for the home Tests against Sri Lanka in 2008. Gayle's $800,000 IPL price-tag made him one of Kolkata's most expensive players and he was initially reluctant to commit to the Test series against Australia when the schedules clashed. However, a groin injury meant he was unable to play any IPL matches anyway.
Andrew Miller May 2008
