Chris Gayle has vowed the latest furore over his leadership will not disrupt preparations for the first Test against Australia.

Gayle spent four months on the sidelines while the West Indies Players Association was involved in a contract dispute with the West Indies Cricket Board, but an agreement between the two parties meant he reclaimed the reins for the tour to Australia.

The dazzling batsman has received plenty of criticism from both home and abroad, most famously earlier in the year when he arrived in England a few days before the West Indies' first Test at Lord's.

Gayle had been plying his trade in the IPL and raised further questions from traditionalists when he was quoted as saying he 'wouldn't be so sad' if Test cricket died out.

Gayle has since been forced to defend his role in the boycott, and his position as leader has also been called into question by some quarters.

Sir Viv Richards was the latest to do so when he said that Gayle needs to change his attitude, and also nominated Daren Ganga as a fine candidate for skipper of the region.

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Gayle has been in transit since Richards aired his views, but was characteristically unmoved when informed about the comments yesterday.

"That's life. He doesn't have to deal with the situation I'm currently in," Gayle said.

"I'm trying to move on, it doesn't make sense to have a fight at each other - we're all West Indian."

"It's part of the package as captain. The negativity will always be there."

Gayle's trademark cool character remained intact for the duration of his first media conference on Australian soil, but he warned that might not always be the case.

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"The negativity, I wont take too much of it on, unless something might actually trigger out a line, then I might have to take it on."

"But if that situation occurs, we'll deal with it at that point of time."

"Our main focus is to represent the West Indies and do well against Australia."

Gayle, who said he was thankful for the captaincy, was excited by the challenge of reshaping a West Indies side that features plenty of fresh faces, many of which only had their chance to shine due to the recent contract dispute.

"I'm going to try and create a good environment, get that unity on track and... (get) the support of every player going out there in the middle."

"There are quite a few youngsters in the team as well, we'll have to try and gel as a unit and take it from there."

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