All about teamwork

NOTTINGHAM (CMC):

Chris Gayle has asserted that every member of the West Indies team played a part in helping the side win their one-day international series against England.

West Indies gave another whole-hearted effort to completely outplay Paul Collingwood's side, win the third one-day international by 93 runs on Saturday, and clinch their three-match bilateral series 2-1.

"I'm delighted, and very, very happy," Gayle told reporters following the match. "I have to give thanks to the guys for the support, the management team. I thought it was a tremendous effort."

He added: "It means a lot to me, not only because I am the captain, even if I was a player under (Ramnaresh) Sarwan's captaincy, it still would have meant a lot to me. You have to give credit to everyone. It's all about the momentum. The vibes on the field was so good, and we are just happy and enjoying the moment."

Gayle disclosed that the result is also a result of a lot of planning by his side.

"All the guys communicated well with each other, and we have a lot of discussions and team meetings and we know what responsibility each guy has and all the guys deserve it," he said.

"They need to take a rest now, and take a rest after the Ireland tour, and recuperate and come back fresh in September for the Twenty/20 World Championship in South Africa."

Playing Aggressively

Gayle noted that the players discussed playing aggressively against England from the very first ball, and starting even before from the warm up.

"It really paid off in the end," he said. "To be 0-1 down, and come from behind to win 2-1, it was tremendous, and we have to give credit to everyone. Everyone had an input in winning this series.

"I thought the players were outstanding, not just one individual. Shiv Chanderpaul was tremendous for us with the bat; Daren Powell, Ravi Rampaul and Fidel Edwards always gave us a good start with the ball, and I have to give those guys credit.

"Everybody chipped in, everybody played a part, and we were well backed up in the field as well, so I recommend that these guys really deserve to take a rest."

Gayle was pleased that the side had turned the negative of using Caribbean players in the English leagues for the first warm-up match into a positive.

"We started with five league players, and it wasn't the best start, as I commented earlier, but in the end, we gradually picked up the momentum, and carried it in a few warm-up games and in the two Twenty/20 internationals," he said.

"I said once we won that first Twenty/20 international, it would really set the tone for the entire series. It goes to show how well we play together and how unstoppable we can look out there."

Before returning to the Caribbean, West Indies make a brief stopover in Ireland, where they will contest three ODIs at Dublin's Clontarf Cricket Club against the Netherlands tomorrow, Scotland on Thursday, and the hosts on Saturday.