Gayle intends to invest wisely

2 November 2008

Chris Gayle will use some of the Stanford money he won to help his ill family members

Million-dollar-winning Stanford Superstars captain Chris Gayle has vowed to use his new windfall to fund treatment for ill members of his family.

The opener Gayle cracked an explosive, unbeaten 65 to leave England empty-handed in Sir Allen Stanford’s inaugural 20/20 for 20 contest.

After celebrating the 10-wicket victory in his customary cool style - strolling his lap of honour with bat aloft like a triumphant gladiator - the 29-year-old revealed he wants to ensure better health for brother Andrew and father Dudley.

Although he has not gone into details of their problems - he missed the first match of the Stanford Super Series because of his concern for their state back in Jamaica - it is known that Andrew has a heart condition.

“I will definitely hook up my brother to a doctor to fix his heart,” said Gayle, who had corrective surgery on his own heart in 2005.

“I have found it hard this week for medical reasons involving my brother and my father. I am definitely going to sort them out, there are no two ways about it, I am going to get it on it right away. It’s the first thing I will do.

“This is better than anything in the world, I tell you straight up, I am not going to lie. I am truly grateful for what happened here.”

Gayle, who heads off to Abu Dhabi with West Indies for a series against Pakistan in the coming days, added: “This is some of the most pressure I have ever been under coming into this game, for family reasons and negative stuff off the field.

“I am going to take two days to be by myself because this week I have been really stressed out.

“The thing about me is that no-one can tell I am under pressure, I don’t show emotion that much. If something is wrong with me you don’t always know because that’s the kind of person I am.”

Gayle and his Caribbean collective showed a ruthless determination to pocket the $1million a man on offer to the winners.

“We have worked hard for six weeks and the guys really deserve it. Even if you had a million before, another million will still change your life.

“You can spend it on what you want, invest it in whatever you chose, it is your money and you deserve it.”