Opening batsman Chris Gayle has been recalled to the West Indies one-day international squad for the first two games of this month’s five-match series against England.
Gayle has not played for West Indies since he scored 73 in an 18-run ODI defeat against Bangladesh last July and opted out of the tour to India and Bangladesh in October and November.
The 39-year-old, who has scored 9,727 runs and racked up 23 centuries in 284 ODIs, was recalled by the West Indies cricket board as it fine-tunes the squad ahead of the World Cup in England next May.
Spin bowler Ashley Nurse has returned from injury while 23-year-old wicketkeeper Nicholas Pooran earns his first call-up to the national side.“He is clearly a young player with undoubted talent and we believe he can add value to our middle order,” chairman of selectors Courtney Browne said in a statement.
“As we continue our Cricket World Cup preparations, the upcoming series against the top-ranked ODI side is a great opportunity to gauge where we are as a team.”
The one-day international series begins in Barbados on Feb. 20 with the first two matches to be played at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown.West Indies are 2-0 up in the test series, with the third and final test starting on Saturday in St Lucia.
