I like Chris Gayle. He is what every WI cricketer should be. Unflustered, cool and walking around with a swagger only players from the WI can pull off.
He is an uncompromising player too. Whether its Test Cricket, ODIs or 2020 cricket, if the ball is there to be hit he will murder it. He loves to entertain and you can’t really argue with that. And although people may have felt he was a left field choice for captain when he was given the job, he has done a well leading his team and the WI have generally enjoyed a decent run in all forms of the game.
But now Chris is trying to fuck all that up.
Clearly his hearts not into test cricket. Along with all your skills and capabilities you need to have a love for test cricket to play it. Extending his IPL run, joining the test team 48 hours before the series starts pretty much means Chris can’t be arsed.
Of course Chris probably isn’t the first one to feel like this, I am pretty sure there are many cricketers in the International circuit who would be happy to turn up for the two months in the IPL and collect their paycheck.
But Chris is the first high profile player to come out and say that he couldn’t careless if test cricket took a back seat. Not only has this damaged test cricket but it also seems to have embarrassed a few of his predecessors in Sobers and King Viv, who seem to be desperately hoping he was misquoted.
Well tough nuts Chris, you aren’t the first sportsman to say some bullshit and then turn around and say you were misquoted. Of course the culprit is non other than Wing Commander Strauss – who got Gayle all riled up with his 48 hour comment. Hats off to him.
Its pretty immature and irresponsible for Chris to get tangled up in what is clearly an attempt by Strauss to needle him. For a captain of a test team to come out and say that the long format is not something he cares about is pretty much blasphemous. Or maybe Strauss just caught him at the right time when Gayle was feeling guilty about the whole situation it self and spilled more than he intended.
If I were the WI management Id ask Gayle to step down and drop him from the test team. He clearly did not and does not want to be captain and has no ambition to play test cricket in the long term. That’s not a healthy thing for WI. A captain who doesn’t want the job and a player who is not too bothered if he makes a 100 or 0 playing for his country.
That is poison. It is best to get rid of it when you can.
Gayle went onto say that Strauss shouldn’t sleep with ‘Chris Gayle on his mind’, (Wing Commander batting for the other side? Perish the thought!) well a good few other wont be anymore either.
Your comment about getting rid of poison makes me think that you not only want Gayle out of the captain’s role, but you want him DEAD.
Kill Lalit Modi.
End of story.
Amy> Since Gayle is now dead to me, it would be of great interest to me if he actually died.
Sachintha> That will just would the 2020 Animal. It will heal. Like Wolverine.
Jonathan Agnew said on the radio that Chris Gayle voted for himself in a poll to decide the world’s coolest cricketer. I can’t decide if that’s cool or not.
i think just like strauss was trying to needle gayle, gayle was getting his own back at his board, team and fans.
i would be shocked if ponting said something like this, but i wasn’t too surprised to hear it from gayle.
on the field, his record has been superb – he has led the best windies side for years. he really put some steel back into them. so clearly this is a guy who was good enough to bring his team up to that level, and it’s not about his personal skills as a batsman cuz sir brian couldn’t do it.
that aside, look at the way the windies board treats its players. its shambolic. and their fans are not always the easiest to deal with.
in fact, when a pakistani captain makes the same whinge, i wouldn’t mind it either. our test side is treated like pariahs, we are lucky to get a 3 match series, and our board is full of idiotic assholes. on top of that, we have some of the worst fans in the world when it comes to bitterness, vindictiveness and fickleness. lots of nesses there.
we can’t expect these guys to just keep giving and get continuously let down in return. if a shit player makes that complaint, fuck him, but if a genius like gayle, who not so long ago was leading the team with his heart (the 197 against the kiwis) makes this complaint, it suggests an endemic problem with the game. its unfair to blame gayle (or lalit) and brush the issue under the rug, doncha think?