Home sweet home for the young Chris Gayle, my mum, my dad, a sister and three brothers. Us five kids shared one bedroom and two beds

I grew up listening to the sound of balls hitting zinc fences. The front of my childhood home, with the boy become a man. Good Jamaican colours

Directly across the street from 1C St James Road. Where that patched-up section now stands was a hole. Beyond that was Lucas Cricket Club. A scrubby wall to some, for me a gateway to another world

You might think us lucky to have one of the great spiritual homes of West Indian cricket on our doorstep. Well, we didn’t. We had two. Lucas’s arch-rivals and next-door neighbours, Kensington. Start booing now

Lucas Cricket Club, 100 years old. The first club in the country where poor black men could play the ruling whites, the reason I made it in cricket. Bars on the windows to keep out the bad men

I used to love running up that rusty ladder to score the Lucas board. Through the hole in the fence, first boy to the top. I dreamed of my name hanging off those hooks

Jump a fence, steal some bottles, take them to Lecky’s for the deposit, fill your hungry belly with food

They liked their rules at Rollington Town primary school. They also loved their cricket. I’ll be honest, we did do some shouting

The fantastic Miss Hamilton, my primary school teacher and first proper cricket coach. She could bowl serious fast. I owe her so much.

A shy boy, a boy who wouldn’t say much to anyone. You’ll have to trust me on this one

Of course I’m smiling – that’s the West Indies crest on my shirt. Plus I’ve just seen the senior players going to a nightclub, and I’ve invited myself along

Happy days with Lucas, winning the All-Island Rothman’s Cricket Trophy. Me moody fourth from right at back, little brother Wayne second left on the front. Big trophy, bigger party

Do we look tired? A 435-run partnership gives a young man a lift as well as a licking. Me and Leon Garrick loved to bat together and loved to party in partnership even more

It’s all about the vest and hat combo in Rollington Town. Me and childhood best mate John Murphy, boys all grown up but still united

When I was growing up the nets never had nets. Time to put that right

Mum Hazel, dad Dudley. I’m jealous of my parents. I’ll never have a kid as cool as theirs

I’m a slogger, am I? My first Test triple century, against South Africa in 2005. I was used to batting all day; I’d grown up doing it on the Lucas outfield (Getty)

(Getty)

I faced the first ever ball in the first ever World T20. It was a good storyline, but I’m an entertainer, so I understood it needed more. The first ever international T20 century followed 50 balls later (Getty)

Only three men had ever hit two Test triple centuries. Better make that four. Galle in Sri Lanka is hot; across those two days, I was hotter (Getty)

I like to dance even on quiet nights. When the West Indies have won the World T20, I’m going to dance Gangnam, tops off and upside-down. World Boss! (Getty)

(Getty)

(Getty)

I’m the Tsar of T20, the boss of the boundary boards. I’ve been called a pioneer by some and a legend by others, so if someone is going to hit the first ball of a Test match for six, of course it should be me (Getty)

The secret to hitting the highest-ever score in a T20 match, to making a hundred off just 30 balls? Pancakes for breakfast. NB: I think I carry off the gold helmet rather well (BCCI)

(BCCI)

No one had ever hit a double century in a World Cup match. Six Machine is not no one (Getty)

(Getty)

Dishing out the licks for the Tallawahs at Sabina Park. I used to sneak into the stands here to watch the Jamaican greats. Now I send sixes into those same seats (Getty)

You travel back in time and give my Spartan CG Boss Thunder to an old-timer opener and he’s dragging it out to the middle and asking for help from short leg and first slip to lift it when he gets there

World Boss meets Beckham Boss. A cool moment, for both of us

Usain and me go way back, on dancefloors across Kingston. Warning: when he bowls to you, his run-up is the fastest thing you’ve ever seen at a cricket ground (Getty)

I travel the world, but I always come home. Being born and raise Jamaican is the single best thing that has happened to me. For all the struggles, for all the pain, I wouldn’t trade it to be a sheltered citizen of anywhere else

Life is about now. If you’re going to do it, do it big. Do not wait for the never-comes future. Do not die worrying about the edge behind. Play your shots, and play them your way

Some people ask why I call myself World Boss. I only ask, why not Universe Boss?

From down there to up here: the dream was always to buy a house, because I know where I’m coming from, because then you’ve made the jump. You’re not going back

I’m a complicated man. Sometimes the mood descends and I say something some people think I shouldn’t. Then trouble comes my way . . . (Getty)