Chris Gayle’s future — both immediate and extended — as a West Indian cricketer may seem very bleak following the inconclusive and ‘contentious’ meeting between the Jamaican opener and the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) in Kingston. But sources close to Gayle have indicated to The Indian Express that the WICB big-wigs are deliberately trying to get rid of the former skipper in order to safeguard the interests of present captain Darren Sammy.
“The board president (Julian Hunte) is from St Lucia, so is the CEO (Ernest Hilaire). And not surprisingly, Sammy is from the same island too,” the source said.
Gayle had gone on record in a controversial and freewheeling radio interview, lambasting skipper Sammy and coach Ottis Gibson. And it was as a result of the things that he said in the interview, that Gayle has been left out in the cold by the WICB ever since.
“They don’t want a solution. They want to bury the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) and Gayle once and for all. It’s a big ego issue for them and they are dragging West Indies cricket down with them. There just didn’t seem to be any inclination on their part. It’s a strange master and servant situation. They are not giving us any time-frame as to what lies next for Gayle,” he said.
While there have been reports claiming that the meeting came to an abrupt end after WIPA president Dinanath Ramanarine allegedly lifted a chair and threatened to hit WICB CEO Ernest Hilaire, a WIPA source also confirmed with this paper on Thursday in Kingston that this was untrue. “There were words exchanged between Ramanarine and the CEO, especially when there were certain allegations made against Gayle, which were uncalled for. But he never lifted a chair and though he did once get up from his chair to voice his opinion,” said the WIPA source.
The WIPA source also expressed surprise at the absence of the selectors during the meeting, which was attended by Gayle, Ramnarine, WIPA vice-president Wavell Hinds, Hilaire, coach Ottis Gibson, director of cricket Tony Howard and team manager Richie Richardson.
“We went there confident that the two parties will reach an amicable agreement. Tempers did flare in between, but only briefly. We were willing to bury the past and move on, but they want Gayle to go down on his knees and beg and apologise. We only asked two things. The reason for not picking Gayle and what’s the next step from here. We needed a time-frame, but the board just hard-balled and left the issue unresolved,” the source said.
