Chris Gayle - FILE PHOTOS
WEST INDIES BATSMAN Chris Gayle aims to be ready to return to competitive cricket by month-end when his Jamaican outfit tackle Guyana in a Carib Beer Series match at home.
Gayle, 26, is still recuperating from the minor heart surgery he had while on tour of Australia in November and he is anxious to resume playing cricket.
MISS SERIES
The tall left-hander was scheduled to begin light training this week and will miss his country's Carib Beer Series fixtures this month against Trinidad and Tobago (January 6-9) and Barbados (January 13-16).
He aims to make his return to competitive cricket in Jamaica's home match against Guyana starting January 27 at Chedwin Park.
"I'll be missing both games against Trinidad and Barbados, so hopefully against Guyana I'll be ready. I am just trying to get myself into condition and hopefully things will get better from here on," Gayle said recently.
Gayle, who played for Worcestershire in the English County Championship on a short-term contract last summer, has played 54 Test matches and 123 one-day international (ODI) matches and he admitted that time away from the game has been frustrating.
FRUSTRATING
"I am looking to be back into the game, it's been a while and it's getting a bit frustrating. As you all know, I want to play cricket and I'll see what happens from here on," Gayle said.
After being forced to leave the field due to his heart problem in the second Test against Australia, Gayle underwent surgery on November 23 in Melbourne and missed the final Test in Adelaide.
He says the chance of the problem recurring is very slim.
"According to the doctor, there is (only) one in a hundred per cent chance that the problem might come back," said Gayle, who is ranked number six in the world's ODI batting rankings. With 4,416 runs, he has an average of 38.73 in ODIs, and a 38.79 average and 3,569 runs in Test cricket.
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