I will give up captaincy: Chris Gayle

LONDON: Chris Gayle may be looked upon as a hero in his native Jamaica, but the priority for the aggressive batsman is a little bit of time for himself.

And he believes he can get it back by quitting as West Indies captain.

"To be honest with you there's a possibility I might give it up u2013 I will be giving it up shortly," he said in an interview to The Guardian

"It's definitely not something I'm looking to hang on to. I need some time for myself, to be honest with you, it's a lot of travelling. There's always something you have to go and do, you know, extra. Lunch or dinner, some other thing, there's always something for the captain.

"I'm not that type of person. I can't take on too much things. So soon I will be handing over this captaincy. I soon finish with it."

The job has been filled by a succession of reluctant occupants in recent years u2013 Shivnarine Chanderpaul was forced into accepting the role after a sponsorship row ruled out nine players in 2005, Ramnaresh Sarwan took over in 2007 but was troubled by injury, and eventually Gayle was persuaded.

Now, he says, he is turning his mind to potential successors. "We're still looking at quite a few," said Gayle. "So we just have to wait and see when the selectors decide u2013 or whosoever decide.

"Then I'm ready. The chairman pointed out to me they want me to actually be the captain for right now. We have to see how it goes. I said, 'Don't be too long, though'."