Gayle: Dispute won't affect us

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Reports of a players' boycott both during this series and for next month's Test and one-day tour of England have dominated the build-up to the third encounter in the five-match series at the Kensington Oval on Friday.

But West Indies captain Gayle has instructed his side to switch off from the dispute and said: "I am very happy with the way we have stuck together and you can see that in the way we've played in our games. It's good to see that bond, that unity and strength and once we have that sort of unity, we can beat any opponents."

He added: "I have made it very clear to the players that once we step across the rope we should be ready for cricket and we've been in this situation before so it's nothing new to us.

"We're all big men so we have to take responsibility in whatever we do and when there is a game of cricket, we should be ready for cricket."

The remaining issue to be resolved is believed to be availability for the Indian Premier League, which has been switched to South Africa and is ongoing when the Test series against England begins at Lord's on May 6.

IPL organisers have put the original start date back a week, which could reduce the number of matches England and West Indies players are available for and potentially reduce their payments.

"That's something we have to look into," admitted Gayle. "The IPL has been pushed back a week now so we can only play for two weeks and we're still having discussions about the IPL. The Board have said we will get the No Objection Certificate for two weeks and that's it for now.

"I think May 1 is when the England players arrive so I think it's going to be the same time for us. I might come and watch a game as well, so we will see what happens.

"We have to come to an understanding with each other between the team, the players and the Board and I think there is some sort of communication going on. Things are looking pretty good, I'm sure everyone will benefit from the outcome and the cricket will definitely go on rather than go into a dispute again."