Chris Gayle has been named West Indies vice-captain for the 2019 World Cup, while Shai Hope has been appointed vice-captain for the continuous tri-nation series including Ireland and Bangladesh.
Gayle, who is set to resign from ODIs after the World Cup, is by a wide margin the most experienced player in West Indies’ World Cup squad, with 10,151 runs in 289 ODIs. His career-best of 215 that came against Zimbabwe amid the 2015 edition of the tournament is as yet the most elevated ODI score for West Indies. He last captained West Indies in an ODI in June 2010.
“It is always an honour to represent the West Indies in any format and this World Cup for me is special,” Gayle said after the announcement. “As a senior player it is my responsibility to support the captain and everyone else in the team. This will probably be the biggest World Cup, so there will be great expectations and I know we will do very well for the people of the West Indies.”
On his appointment as representative for the tri-nation series, Hope said that the decision was taken after he was asked by the management to take the role.
“It’s a tremendous honour to be appointed vice-captain for this series here in Ireland,” Hope said. “Ahead of this tournament I was asked to take on this role and I was happy to accept. Anything I’m asked to do for West Indies cricket I’m always happy and willing to put my hand up, so this is great.”
The tri-nation series is set to finish on May 17 in Malahide before West Indies advance toward England for the World Cup that starts a fortnight later.
