Gayle points a finger at Pollard, Smith, Ramdin

Georgetown: Chris Gayle has taken aim at three of his batsmen, following West Indies' humiliating two-run defeat at the hands of Zimbabwe on Thursday. The West Indies captain slammed Dwayne Smith, Kieron Pollard, and Denesh Ramdin for the soft manner in which they were dismissed, as the home team chased 255 to win from 50 overs.

"In the Australia series, I saw improvements in the likes of Pollard and Smith," said Gayle.

"To come here and the way they went about it, I must say I am very disappointed in those two guys and Ramdin.

He added: "Those guys were key for us, and the way they went about it, was a terrible display. It's very disappointing, and sad to see how they went about it."

All three batsmen were bowled essaying ill-advised lofty strokes, but Smith's dismissal with four runs required off the last three balls was particularly painful.

"Zimbabwe are here to win," said Gayle. "There is no way we can underestimate them. We saw what they have to offer in the Twenty20 International (on Sunday)."

He continued: "Zimbabwe have beaten Australia. It is not a team that we are taking for granted. They are here to win just like us, and credit must go to them.

"The way they pushed and ran hard between the wickets showed how hungry and determined they are."

Gayle cautioned his side that if they fail to respond to the challenge adequately, they run the risk suffering a hugely embarrassing series whitewash.

"Well done to Zimbabwe, they did well," he said. "They wanted it more than us. You could see from the way they went about their batting, running between the wickets, and the aggression.

"We got off to a good start, but we faltered in the middle, two crucial run outs again, and then some. I don't know how to describe it; a terrible display of batting at the end."

He said: "We are rebuilding, but if we don't learn, we're still going to get beaten. If we continue like this Zimbabwe will beat us 5-0. No excuses. It was a terrible display, and some immature cricket.

"We need to dig ourselves quickly out of this hole. There's a lot of things to put on the table and discuss."

Gayle urged long-suffering West Indies fans not to give up hope because the series was still open.

He noted West Indies had fallen behind in their previous ODI series against Zimbabwe, and rebounded to win that series 4-1.

"We are still going to need that support regardless of the result," he said. "When you do crap, it's definitely crap, and there is no excuse.

"Guys have to take responsibility out there in the middle. It is just sad and disappointing."

The second ODI will be played on Saturday at the same venue.

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Windies' big batsman has a giant future

EMERGING from the wreckage of the West Indies' poor summer, big-hitting Kieron Pollard has shown he is a superstar of the future.

The allrounder from Trinidad and Tobago showed his exciting potential when he smashed four towering sixes into the Gabba grandstands on Sunday night.

The Windies were never a chance of hauling in Australia's 7-324, but Pollard's supercharged 62 off 55 balls kept the crowd on their toes.

The 22-year-old, who grew up in a home where his single mother often struggled to put food on the table, has already collected $US750,000 ($845,000) for signing an Indian Premier League contract with Mumbai.

It may seem excessive, but not according to West Indian captain Chris Gayle, who says Pollard could be anything.

Gayle is one of cricket's most exhilarating big hitters, but he insisted the title for most powerful hitter in his own team belonged to Pollard.

"He's bigger than me, so I think he can hit it further than me, definitely," Gayle said yesterday.

"I'm still happy with Pollard and the progress he's making. It's a big improvement in the last couple of ODIs. It shows that he's very capable of getting an ODI hundred very soon.

"It's good for us and it's good for him as well."

Pollard first hit the headlines when he dominated the inaugural Champions League Twenty20 tournament last year.

He was quickly signed by South Australia and was the leading runscorer in this season's domestic Big Bash tournament with 190 runs at a strike rate of 145.

Pollard is also a more than handy paceman and struck Cameron White a vicious blow behind the ear from a bouncer during Australia's 51-run ODI win in Brisbane.

However, when skipper Ricky Ponting was asked if the medium pacer was faster than he looked, he said: "No, he's not. He gets a bit more bounce, and runs his fingers across most balls and a lot stick in the wicket a little bit."

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Chris Gayle reappointed captain for Australia tour

Chris Gayle has been reappointed West Indies captain for the upcoming tour of Australia later this month, marking the end of the contractual dispute between the striking players and the West Indies Cricket Board. Senior players such as Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Dwayne Bravo also returned to the squad for the three-Test series following the strike, while youngsters such as Adrian Barath, Kemar Roach and Gavin Tonge made the cut as well.

The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) met in Barbados on Saturday to approve the selectors' recommendation of Gayle as captain and made the announcement on Monday. Gayle, 30, has not played international cricket since the home series against India in July due to the ugly contractual dispute between WICB and the players' union. In his absence, the selectors fielded depleted teams led by Floyd Reifer against Bangladesh and in the Champions Trophy.

The name of Daren Ganga, who captained Trinidad & Tobago to the final of the inaugural Champions League, had been closely linked in the ever-changing story of the captaincy. However, John Dyson, the recently deposed West Indies coach, revealed selectors had previously baulked at moves to restore Ganga to the captaincy over concerns that his batting was not up to the rigours of international cricket. Ganga scored three centuries in 48 Tests between 1998 and 2008, averaging just 25.71.

"There was certainly some hesitation there," Dyson told Cricinfo before the confirmation of Gayle's captaincy. "Daren is obviously an impressive bloke and he is well suited to leading the Trinidadian side, but from my talks with selectors, the feeling was that he had not really grasped his opportunities in his 48 Tests."

Dyson, who predicted Gayle would hold on to the job, said it would be "wise of the selectors" to gauge his commitment to it. "Many of the things that have happened to the West Indies team haven't been his fault," Dyson said. "A lot of people would be tempted by the IPL and other leagues, and I think more and more players will let it be known that they are not totally committed to their teams. If Chris is committed to international cricket, I think he could yet be a good captain."

Gayle has had mixed results as captain, winning three Tests out of 14 and 13 ODIs out of 38. He led West Indies to two series wins in one-dayers, including an away victory against England last year, and against the touring Sri Lanka. He presided over a surprise win in the first Test against South Africa in Johannesburg but his side went on to lose the next two games and the series. His other Test wins came against Sri Lanka in Port-of-Spain to level the two match series and a deciding win over England at home earlier this year, before West Indies handed back the Wisden Trophy when they toured just after.

There are only two uncapped players in the squad, Barath and Tonge. Barath, the Trinidad & Tobago batsman, came into prominence by scoring a century for West Indies A against the touring England side earlier this year. He was then included in the squad for the first home Test against Bangladesh in July but didn't play. However, Barath shone for T&T during the Champions League in India. There is no third opener in the 15-man squad - Devon Smith and Lendl Simmons - haven't been picked, so Barath could well open with Gayle in Brisbane.

Tonge, a 26-year old fast bowler, and Roach were handed their debut against Bangladesh during the strike and impressed with their speed. They proved a handful on the fast pitches in South Africa during the ICC Champions Trophy and those performances won them their spots on the plane to Australia. The trip will also be an interesting one for Brendan Nash, who played for Queensland before qualifying to become a West Indies international.

Squad: Chris Gayle (capt), Adrian Barath, Sulieman Benn, Dwayne Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Narsingh Deonarine, Travis Dowlin, Brendan Nash, Denesh Ramdin, Ravi Rampaul, Kemar Roach, Darren Sammy, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Jerome Taylor, Gavin Tonge.

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