WICB lets Gayle off for rant against selectors

St. John's (Antigua), July 17 - The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has said it would no longer pursue disciplinary action against star opening batsman Chris Gayle for his criticism of selectors last January.

Gayle had used a post-match interview following a Twenty20 game against South Africa to slam the Clive Lloyd-led panel for axing Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo from the West Indies' World Cup squad, CMC reported on Thursday.

The 35-year-old labelled the move as "victimisation" and "ridiculous", and contended that the squad was not the strongest one possible because of the absence of the Trinidadian all-rounders.

However, the board said in a statement that the charge brought against Gayle was laid "outside the required time frame".

"It came to the attention of the disciplinary committee, however, that Gayle had previously been the subject of a reprimand for his comments and the charge was served on him outside the required time frame," the statement said.

"The WICB's Code of Conduct also states that such a charge must be laid against an offender within 10 days of the alleged commission of the offence."

Gayle has scored 7,214 runs from 103 Tests and 9,221 runs from 269 One-Day Internationals (ODIs).

(IANS)