Chris Gayle celebrates his big win

Gayle did not specify his father's illness, though he revealed it was because of his father and brother that he left the team's six-week camp in Antigua to travel back home to Jamaica last weekend, thereby missing the series opener against Trinidad and Tobago.

"I will help my brother to fix his heart and I'll also help my father who's also sick," Gayle said after his 42-ball 65 helped the Superstars rout England by 10 wickets in the winner-takes-all $20 million Stanford Twenty20 series finale.

Big reward

For beating England, each of the Superstars playing 11 received $1 million from series sponsor, American billionaire Allen Stanford.

The non-playing members shared another $1 million, and the coaches $1 million.

Gayle said the victory by the Superstars, a West Indies all-star side, was "better than anything else in the world."

"Words can't explain the feeling," he said.

"It is tremendous feeling.

"I'm glad it is over. The guys turned up for the party. I couldn't ask for a better team performance.

"Everyone played their part. It wasn't a one-man show," he said.

Poor performance

Gayle said England's lack of focus on the game might have caused them to perform poorly.

England complained about the light, pitch and the behaviour of Stanford leading up the game, and many observers believed they were distracted.

"We were always focused for the game," Gayle said.

"We needed the money. We will take that every day."

He said his England counterpart Kevin Pietersen, who made only 7 in his side's dismal batting display, told him that the Superstars needed the money more than the English.

"His (Pietersen) comments about the money didn't offend me," Gayle said.

Kevin Pietersen of England and Chris Gayle of the Superstars shake hands at the toss

Harmless comments

"At the end of the day, when you look at the faces of these players who have nothing it brings a smile to my face," he said.

The series had four more years to run, and Gayle said he supported it.

"Twenty20 is a business, if you look at it from business point of view.

"Test cricket will be there and one-day international cricket has its place," he said.

Gayle also praised Stanford for his vision.

"Sir Allen has done a lot for the Caribbean.

"I would just like to say thanks to him and commend him," he added.

Recommend this article...

Did you enjoy this article? Please bookmark it onto: