MORE TESTS FOR CAPTAIN GAYLE

Chris Gayle has another three limited overs games ahead of him on the Ireland tour as he warms up to the position as West Indies captain.

The Jamaican batsman led the West Indies to a 2-1 ODI series victory over England on Saturday shortly after they lost the Test series 3-0.

The West Indies arrived in Dublin, Ireland on Sunday and play The Netherlands today, Scotland on Thursday and Ireland on Saturday. Gayle said although the team is on a high it wont be taking the opponents, all ranked lower than the West Indies, lightly.

"It's good to be here on such a high note. We can't take these three games for granted, we have to compete with the other teams and try and play the best cricket that we can play, and try and maintain the standard and go home on a high," said Gayle.

"Hopefully this can be something for the future and the guys can really build on this momentum. We have the Twenty/20 World Cup coming up so these things have to be taken into consideration."

Gayle said the West Indies used all the criticisms levelled against them as motivation. He, in particular, was heavily criticised for his poor batting form in the Tests. Gayle slightly improved in the Twenty20 series, which they drew 1-1, and the ODI series, with his best batting performance coming in the decisive match on Saturday when he scored 82 runs to help his team beat England by 93 runs.

"It was good to get some runs, but from a team point of view I think we all played good cricket," Gayle pointed out. "We planned well, the unit was so good and to come out victorious in England is a tremendous feeling for everyone."

While acknowledging the West Indies will take all three opponents seriously on the Ireland tour, Gayle knows the host pose the biggest threat.

"We played against Ireland in the World Cup and they are not a team to take for granted. They have capable guys, experienced guys and guys who have been to the World Cup, and guys who have been playing at a top first class level. They will come at us hard and we will be there battling," he said

England momentum

Like Gayle, West Indies interim coach David Moore is expecting the momentum from the England tour to take them through Ireland smoothly.

"We've come to Ireland from the last series with a bit of momentum and the players have been playing well and coming together as a group and hopefully we can take that momentum into this series," said Moore

"Every game that the players represent the West Indies they take seriously and look to win and win well. There will be some young players looking for opportunities and if they get their opportunities they will have to take those. We are very serious about this series, we are looking to go through undefeated and play as best we can."

Meanwhile, West Indies all rounder Dwayne Bravo who was with the squad in England will not be a part of the squad for the Ireland trip. Bravo sustained an ankle injury in England. He remained in London for specialist examination and treatment after which he will return to the Caribbean.

"We are going to miss Dwayne but we decided against replacement because it is a short trip with only three games, and we've had some good performers in England who did not get a chance in the One Day Internationals in England," said Moore.

"Darren Sammy did well but unfortunately missed out in the ODIs and Austin (Richards Jr) and Lendl (Simmons) will also have a chance to stake their claims," Moore added.

SQUAD: Chris Gayle (Captain), Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Devon Smith, Marlon Samuels, Runako Morton, Dwayne Smith, Denesh Ramdin, Ravi Rampaul, Daren Powell, Fidel Edwards, Daren Sammy, Lendl Simmons, Austin Richards Jr.

"It's good to be here on such a high note. We can't take these three games for granted, we have to compete with the other teams and try and play the best cricket that we can play, and try and maintain the standard and go home on a high," said Gayle.

"Hopefully this can be something for the future and the guys can really build on this momentum. We have the Twenty/20 World Cup coming up so these things have to be taken into consideration."