Somerset Sign Gayle For Friends Life t20

12 January 2012

Chris Gayle fell out with the WICB after he was sacked as West Indies captain in 2010.

©REUTERS / Action Images

Somerset have signed former West Indies captain Chris Gayle as their overseas player for the Friends Life t20. He will replace Kieron Pollard who is unavailable for county duty due to the West Indies’ tour of England - a tour which Gayle will not be involved in due his long-running contractual dispute withe the WICB.

The 32 year-old has not played for the West Indies since last year's world cup, and has made his living by travelling the globe as a Twenty20 specialist - playing for teams as diverse as the Zimbabwean franchise, Matabeleland Tuskers, and Australian Big Bash League team, Sydney Thunder - ever since then.

Despite all of this upheaval his form has remained strong and he is arguably the best Twenty20 player in the world at the moment and was known to be the subject of numerous offers from county sides.

Somerset director of cricket Brain Rose was clearly delighted with the club’s capture of Gayle, saying of the left-hander, "He is a tremendously exciting player and one of the people who would get into any World T20 XI. He is a tremendous all-rounder. His batting is outstanding, he bowls and can open the attack with his off-spinners, and he is also a brilliant fielder, so we are absolutely delighted."

Gayle also professed himself, “delighted” to be heading to Taunton and added, “Hopefully I can make a key contribution to their T20 campaign this year.”

The signing of Gayle completes Somerset's overseas signings ahead of the 2012 season. They have secured the services of South African seamer Vernon Philander for the first two months of the season, and all-rounder Roelof van der Merwe for the remainder. It is understood that van der Merwe will also fill the second overseas place in the Friends Life t20 beside Gayle.

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