Monday 23 March 2015 18:55, UK
Somerset have signed West Indies batsman Chris Gayle for a portion of the NatWest T20 Blast tournament.
Gayle will move to Taunton as an overseas player on either May 22 or May 29, depending on how his franchise performs in the IPL, and will stay with the club until June 13, allowing him to play six T20 fixtures.
He follows in the footsteps of West Indies greats Joel Garner and Viv Richards in signing for the county.
Gayle, who nearly joined Somerset in 2012, has played in 45 T20 Internationals, scoring 1406 runs at 35.15 with a high score of 117.
In 195 domestic T20 matches, he has amassed 6975 runs at 42.01 with a top score of 175no, hitting 13 centuries and 45 half-centuries.
Somerset Director of Cricket Matt Maynard said: "Signing a world class player of the quality of Chris Gayle is tremendously exciting for the club. He will be a tremendous addition to our already extremely strong squad.
"He is an inspirational character and we are delighted to be bringing him to Somerset. We have a number of overseas players on the roster for the 2015 campaign and Chris’ arrival and registration will give us a number of options which we will look at as we approach each competition."
Gayle added: "I’m excited about joining Somerset for the NatWest T20 Blast this year.
"Many of the club’s members and supporters will know that I came close to playing for the county in 2012 and I have always felt that, if I was able to, I wanted to honour that commitment to Somerset.
"I’m looking forward to coming to Taunton and scoring some runs."
