West Indies master-blaster batsman Chris Gayle will play for Somerset in this summer 's NatWest T20 Blast . Destructive opener Gayle will join Somerset in late May , the exact date of his arrival depending on his involvement in the knockout stages of the Indian Premier League , and he will remain with them until June 13 . Somerset hope the 35-year-old will therefore be available for six matches . Chris Gayle has signed for Somerset for the upcoming NatWest T20 blast competition . Gayle gestures to the crowd after West Indies ' defeat to New Zealand at the Cricket World Cup in Wellington . Gayle is to miss next month 's Test series against England in the Caribbean as he struggles with a back injury which is curtailing his opportunities in cricket 's longer formats . He is a prolific boundary hitter , with more than 8,000 runs to his name in Twenty20 cricket around the world - and Test and one-day international statistics to match . He said : ' I 'm excited about joining Somerset for the NatWest t20 Blast this year . 'Many of the club 's members and supporters will know that I came close to playing for the county in 2012 and I have always felt that , if I was able to , I wanted to honour that commitment to Somerset . I 'm looking forward to coming to Taunton and scoring some runs . ' The New Zealand players celebrate after dismissing the explosive batsman in the quarter-final . Somerset director of cricket Matthew Maynard added : 'Signing a world-class player of the quality of Chris Gayle is tremendously exciting for the club . 'He will be a tremendous addition to our already extremely strong squad . He is an inspirational character and we are delighted to be bringing him to Somerset . ' Gayle poses with a policewomen during his time at the Cricket World Cup with the West Indies .
Somerset hope Chris Gayle can play six games for them in Caribbean blast . Explosive West Indies batsman could arrive later due to IPL games . Gayle said : ' I 'm excited about joining Somerset for the NatWest t20 Blast '