Gayle still blows strong

The West Indies squad arrived in Johannesburg on Monday morning for the Champions Trophy. Half a world away, those left behind were serving up a reminder – as if any was needed – of just why the mess in the Caribbean needs to be sorted out ASAP. While Floyd Reifer was leading his boys off the plane, his predecessor Chris Gayle was blasting out a typical innings – 75 off 59 balls – for a CARICOM Superstars XI against Guyana. The match, attended by Bharrat Jagdeo, the Guyana president and head of CARICOM who recently had charged the WICB with undermining the talks, was part of the President's Premier League Twenty20 series. It also featured other stars out in the cold: Ramnaresh Sarwan, Xavier Marshall, Kieron Pollard, Daren Ganga and Darren Bravo. So Ricky Ponting, who’s said he doesn’t want to face a second-string West Indies side later this year, knows where to find the real thing.