Chris Gayle hits his third hundred of the tournament

He's going okay, Chris Gayle: Three hundreds in seven innings. He's always had the ability to get an innings off to a flyer, but he's not stopping there at the minute. He and Shivnarine Chanderpaul seem to be making a rather handy opening partnership.

He bowls as well. He must be up there with the best one-day players around. He's taken 126 one-day international wickets at 31.89, which is no small amount. His one-day international batting average is 40.13 with 15 hundreds and he's an opener. That compares favourably with anyone.

Yesterday he hit 133 not out off 135 balls as the West Indies booked their place in the final of the Champions' Trophy. They're an increasingly handy outfit the Windies. They've got a couple of maturing bowlers who are taking the pressure off the batsmen. The West Indies have always had a decent batting line-up. They've just had a tendency to fold under pressure. Less pressure - less folding.

Chris Gayle to captain Windies in one-dayers

Brian Lara was captain at the end of the World Cup, then Ramnaresh Sarwan was captain for a Test and a half, then Darren Ganga for two and a half Tests. So it's Chris Gayle's turn now.

Gayle's caricatured as laid-back, cool and disinterested. We think the last one's harsh. No-one gets to where he is without a bit of passion, surely.

We know where he's coming from. We're not one for 'smiling' when we're happy or 'talking' when we're upset about something. Better to remain expressionless, like the man in the Hong Kong Phooey annual we owned as a child, who could look like anyone, but was later revealed to have no face of his own.

The front of his head was just blank. No features at all. Doubtless it was meant as a joke, but it chilled us to our very core as a child. How would someone with no mouth or eyes or anything live their life?

Hong Kong Phooey seemed unfazed by the phenomenon. That's canine martial artists for you.

Chris Gayle's economy rate in one-day internationals

A bowler's economy rate is the average number of runs they concede in an over. Chris Gayle's is currently 4.60 in one-dayers.

What's considered a 'good' economy rate for one-day internationals has increased over the years as batting totals have climbed. We're fairly certain that 4.60 is all right. It's not out of this world.

The reason we're mentioning this is because Chris Gayle took 2-23 off ten overs yesterday. Nobody gets figures like that any more, against Ireland or anybody.

This has done much to offset Chris's middling batting form so far this World Cup, so we're not lying about him being one to watch... [Sighs, knowing no-one's really buying these excuses.]

Chris Gayle, West Indies - World Cup player to watch

Chris Gayle is worth watching when he opens an innings. He's always been able to score at a merry old rate, but of late he's not been stopping. Hundreds have followed.

This perhaps overshadows the fact that he's a very, very fine one-day bowler. We don't like the phrase 'genuine all-rounder' because you're either an all-rounder or you're not. Chris Gayle is an all-rounder.

He's hit five-thousand-and-odd one-day runs at an average of about 39, but he's also taken 134 wickets at 32. Everyone says that this World Cup will be defined by six-hitting on the small grounds and spin bowling on the low bouncing wickets and who are we to argue? If this is true, then it's like the tournament's been designed specifically for Chris Gayle.

Of course form, proven class, home advantage and ideal conditions probably mean that he'll be an abject failure. It's all too perfect. Not that we're on familiar terms with perfection.

Other players to watch during the World Cup