Gayle joins Warriors

West Indies captain Chris Gayle will be bring his explosive batting style to Western Australia for the 2009 Twenty20 Big Bash

West Indies captain Chris Gayle will fire up Western Australia in the Twenty20 Big Bash this season, becoming the highest profile international recruited to Australia for the domestic season.

But Western Australia favourite Adam Gilchrist has opted not to play for the Warriors this season.

After a sensational first season with the Deccan Chargers, Gilchrist was rumoured to be returning to Perth to play in the Twenty20 Big Bash.

But Warriors coach Tom Moody confirmed today that the former Australia opener had knocked back his offer.

"I floated the idea past him in South Africa about a month ago and Gilly made it pretty clear then that he's pretty much retired," Moody said.

"He felt that if he came back into domestic cricket in Australia, he'd be virtually coming out of retirement, so he was pretty happy with where he was at with his career and he's got other commitments now that he's enjoying."

But coming off a disappointing summer where they finished second-last in all forms of the game, Gayle's signing completed a massive recruitment drive by the Warriors after they also signed Australian prospect Ashley Noffke from Queensland.

The Jamaican has scored 454 runs at 41, with a strike rate of 148, in Twenty20 cricket for West Indies.

He led his side through to the semi-finals of the ICC World Twenty20 last month and the left-handed batsman brushed Australia aside in his team's first game, smashing 88 off 50 balls in a seven-wicket win.

Gayle was already due to travel Down Under for the West Indies’ Test series against Australia.

With the third Test scheduled to finish at the WACA on December 20, Gayle will stay on in Perth during January, getting in some Australian limited-overs experience ahead of the West Indies' one-day and Twenty20 fixtures in February.

Moody said: "He's an extremely dynamic player, arguably one of the most if not the most exciting batsman in the world in that form of the game.

"So it's great to have his playing qualities with us.

"We were looking at who was available and who was probably the best fit for our needs and Chris is arguably one of the best Twenty20 players in the world."