BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC):

Estranged West Indies opener Chris Gayle met with West Indies Cricket Board (WIBC) chief executive Ernest Hilaire in Antigua yesterday, in yet another attempt to thrash out lingering issues that have kept the Jamaican opener out of the regional squad.

An official source confirmed to CMC Sports that Hilaire and Gayle sat down at the WICB headquarters in a meeting lasting just over an hour.

CMC Sports understands the tone of the meeting was cordial.

Gayle was unaccompanied at this meeting, in contrast to the previous one back in June when he was represented by members of players union WIPA. Hilaire, too, was unaccompanied.

The left-handed Gayle was overlooked for the recent one-day and Test series against India after failing to settle differences with WICB management, arising from controversial comments he made in a highly charged interview with a Jamaican radio station earlier this year.

Then, he accused the Board of failing to supervise his rehabilitation from injury following the Cricket World Cup and was also heavily critical of Hilaire, head coach Ottis Gibson and captain Darren Sammy.

The June meeting in Jamaica, involving WICB's director of cricket Tony Howard, team manager Richie Richardson, and Gibson, was highly contentious and the parties failed to reach a resolution.