GROS-ISLET, St. Lucia, CMC – Chris Gayle gave the assurance yesterday that West Indies players will play in the fifth and final One-day International against England as scheduled today at the Beausejour Cricket Ground.

Last Saturday, the West Indies captain had threatened strike action for the match if outstanding issues with the West Indies Cricket Board remained unresolved.

But Gayle disclosed that the players through their union, the West Indies Players’ Association, and the WICB were “getting somewhere” in their negotiations which continued yesterday.

“Yes, we have a match,” Gayle told reporters before his side’s final training session.

“Based on the response I’m getting, things seem to be breaking down properly. Hopefully, it will all finish off well, but the game will go on (regardless).

“Basically, we’re looking forward to actually playing [today].”

The players identified the major issues of contention between the two sides as terms and conditions of engagement, as well as outstanding payments, and a new pay structure for players in the West Indies first-class competition.

The WICB said last Friday it had presented “a comprehensive broad-based proposal” to the players to cover a new fee structure in particular.

WIPA rejected the offer and noted that it omitted “substantial and significant information and detail that any meaningful engagement on that basis alone is impossible”.

But Gayle was clear that the off-the-field shenanigans would not affect his side’s approach to the match.

“We’re totally focussed, to be honest with you, even though a lot of things have been happening off the field,” Gayle said. “We’re here to play cricket.

“Hopefully, we can finish off on a high. [Friday] is a very important game for us and we believe we can get the job done.”

The series is locked 2-2, after West Indies fell to a nine-wicket defeat under the Duckworth-Lewis Method in the rain-shortened fourth ODI.

West Indies lost the opening match in bizarre circumstances, when they accepted bad light believing they were ahead of the target under the Duckworth-Lewis Method.

They however, recovered, and Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s 10th ODI hundred overshadowed Andrew Strauss’ third to set-up a 21-run victory in the second match.

West Indies captain Chris Gayle then smashed 80 off just 43 balls in the third ODI before their captain Andrew Strauss collected an unbeaten 79 to set-up a winner-takes-all decider today.

There is an extra incentive for West Indies to take the match seriously, since England have never beaten them in an ODI at the Beausejour Cricket Ground nor have the visitors ever beaten them in an ODI series in the Caribbean.

But England’s chances were enhanced, when medical scans cleared key players Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen of injury worries.

Pietersen left the field on Sunday when he suffered a back spasm while bowling, and Flintoff injured his left thumb attempting a sharp return catch.

England will be looking for significant contributions from both Flintoff and Pietersen

“It’s fantastic to have those two in the side and I’m fully expecting one of the two of them or both of them to combine and help us win this game,” said Strauss.

The England left-handed opener again reiterated his side’s desire to finish the tour with a victory, and end their miserable winter travels on a high.

“We’ve put in a huge amount of work off the field over the last 10 weeks,” he said. “But you want to see rewards for that hard work you put in. At the end of the day, we’ll be judged not on how well we’ve done in our training sessions, but how well we’ve done on the pitch.”
Squads:
WEST INDIES (from): Chris Gayle (capt), Lionel Baker, Sulieman Benn, Dwayne Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Fidel Edwards, Kieron Pollard, Denesh Ramdin, Ravi Rampaul, Dale Richards, Darren Sammy, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Lendl Simmons
ENGLAND (from): Andrew Strauss (capt), James Anderson, Gareth Batty, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Stuart Broad, Paul Collingwood, Steve Davies, Andrew Flintoff, Steve Harmison, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Kevin Pietersen, Matt Prior, Adil Rashid, Owais Shah

UMPIRES: Steve Davis, Norman Malcolm, TV Replays: Clancy Mack, Reserve: Goaland Greaves

MATCH REFEREE: Javagal Srinath