Gayle retains Windies captaincy

Chris Gayle will captain the West Indies in their home series against Sri Lanka and, presumably, the one against Australia too, according to Caribbean Cricket. It is the right decision. Gayle is a maverick, a wide boy, a poor diplomat and as likely to throw his wicket away when caution is needed as he is to pull a brilliant game-turning innings out of the bag. He is also possibly the only man the West Indies players - especially their bowlers - respect and can unite around.

With no disrespect meant towards Ramnaresh Sarwan, the shoulder and ankle injuries that the previous captain sustained in the second half of last year were probably the best thing that could happen to West Indies cricket. They allowed Gayle to be given the chance to lead and he showed that he can bring the best out of the talented but often unfulfilled players around him.

Under Gayle, West Indies beat England in a one-day series, bounced back from a surprising first-game loss to beat Zimbabwe 3-1 and then beat South Africa in the first Test in Port Elizabeth, the first time they had won an overseas Test against serious opposition in almost eight years. Injuries to Gayle then meant he missed the final Test of that series but he is back - and in good form with a recent hundred for Jamaica - and is the right man to resume the captaincy.

The most important thing a leader can do is lead, whether it is by example or by inspiration, but good leaders have to acknowledge the characters around them. England have long seemed uncomfortable with being led by a maverick. Andrew Flintoff and Ian Botham made poor captains because they felt they were the only player that mattered, that they could win a game by themselves. They could not lift their team-mates simply by being Freddie or Beefy. David Gower, another maverick, was a poor captain because the game came too easy to him and he gave the impression to the team that trying hard didn't matter. England tends to be more comfortable with more reflective leaders, the Brearleys, Vaughans and Mays.

Even Nasser Hussain, a maverick as a player, became more thoughtful and less selfish as a captain. He gave England a crucial slice of attitude, but he never became bigger than the team. That annoying phrase "someone put their hand up and came to the party" was coined under Hussain and taken on under Vaughan, but it was a valid point. People were always prepared to lift themselves for their captain and their team. It seems that Gayle may be a captain in the Hussain mould.