The enigma that is Chris Gayle

[ChrisQ]

Mike what I don't understand is why you think a window will be created?
Clearly BCCI don't want one, so I really don't see how that is going to happen.

Another point is IPL is a BCCI tournament, so why would they schedule an Indian tour during the IPL?

Other boards have scheduled tours during the IPL and players have prefered country over IPL in all cases, except maybe one or two exceptions and not more.

The point about the IPL being a BCCI monster is exactly the point Holding is making....

If the BCCI don't want a window, then it's up to the likes of WI, SL and NZ to make sure they don't take part in international series that clash with the IPL, and create a de facto window.

And it's not one or two exceptions.

How many New Zealanders apart from Vettori have been calling for a window? I haven't even heard Pollard or Bravo from WI calling for a window. They seem to be fine playing for only part of the season.

Taking part in international tours is about more than just turning up the day before a Test and playing. It's about getting properly prepared for the tour, and in SL's case, it would mean playing at least two warmup matches before the first Test takes place in England. One practice game is never enough to get used to English conditions. And yet, half of the SL team is happy to stay in the IPL and play 20/20 cricket rather than play against Middlesex to get used to English conditions. That shows me that these SL players would rather play in the IPL than tour England....

And are you sure it has nothing to do with the fact that the SL board previously granted them NOCs valid up until May 20? If SLC had made the NOCs valid only up until the day before the first warm-up do you really think the SL cricketers would have just ignored the board? How could they? Their IPL franchises wouldn't let them play after that date anyway.

What it shows me is that the SL board made a massive mistake. Meanwhile no less than the new Sri Lankan captain has stated on record that he prefers playing for Sri Lanka than for the IPL and that he has no problem returning early: http://www.espncricinfo.com/indian-prem ... 12018.html . Can't imagine Gayle (or even Vettori for that matter) utter words remotely similar. They would probably just keep quiet and then grumble about how their boards should find a way to let them have their cake and eat it too.

I'm not alone on this. If you go to the same link that CQ posted on caribbeancricket.com, you will find a lot of WI fans have come to the conclusion that it's time for weaker boards such as the WICB to stop fighting the IPL, and to work with them.

And a lot of those fans daily display that they have little character, manners or sense on that board. I well recall the poster Samwells arguing with another poster who claims to be a doctor about hernias and where they occur and what kind of treatment (such a groin therapy treatment) would be appropriate. A quick read of Wikipedia was enough to show me who knew what they were talking about and who was spewing more hot air than a volcano.....

They feel that the idea of not creating a window is a battle the bigger, more powerful boards, such as the BCCI, ECB and Cricket Australia are keen on doing, but that the smaller teams such as WI, SL and NZ are the ones that suffer.

This actually doesn't make any sense to me. If the BCCI, ECB and CA are keen not creating a window then how on earth are the WI, SL and NZ boards going to fight them? If the BCCI, ECB and CA are definitely not going to find a window then Gayle and Vettori are the ones spitting in the wind because no matter how much they gripe, the simple fact remains that they money they earn is but a drop in the bucket compared to the sums that those 3 boards deals with on a regular basis. If the WI, SL and NZ boards decide to fight the BCCI, ECB and CA who do you think will win? CSA isn't going to join with SLC, WICB and NZC since they don't have a problem with not having a window. Zimbabwe would know better than to fight the BCCI which has been trying to help it and the Bangladesh board will also no fight the BCCI on the issue. So if "the window" is an issue that will result in a kind of sporting/earning apartheid or segregation wherein a strong minority of players determines what the majority of players (who are not in the IPL) get to do in March-June and if only 3 boards out of 10 would be likely to even have a vague interest in calling for a window (and that is only if those boards decide to screw over the majority of their players to appease a vocal, greedy and capricious minority) why are people still calling for it? If it is unfair and unrealistic why waste time even debating for it?

What we're proposing is really quite simple, and non-confrontational - the Windies stop taking part in any series that clashes with the IPL. That way, players like Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Jerome Taylor, Kieron Pollard can play for both the WIndies and the IPL, and everyone will be happy. Really and truly, what is wrong with that proposal?

What's wrong? C'mon mike don't be like those dullards on caribbeancricket.com. A few other persons have already pointed out the flaws of that proposal (it ONLY benefits at most 7 players and leaves the vast majority of players with NO chance to earn any money or play any cricket for 2 months of excellent cricket weather; it WILL lead to calls from those same players for a Big Bash window which will then ensure that there is only one home series a year in WI or sometimes none at alll; etc). Up to now I've yet to see anyone address the fact that the majority of players who aren't in the IPL are basically being asked to stop working so that others can make oodles of cash that they will never get a share of.

[mikesiva]

Not at all....

Holding is pointed out the obvious - teams like West Indies, Sri Lanka and New Zealand suffer from international series that clash with the IPL.

Did you hear that interview with Basu, the fitness trainer for Bangalore? He says that they have a structured fitness training programme at Bangalore, that is different for each player, according to their needs (Gibson, take note). He also said that Gayle works very hard in the gym (in contrast to the assertions of Gibson, et al, that he doesn't). What Basu says fits in with what Shiv says - that Gayle works hard in the gym. How did Gibson, Hilaire and Butts hear otherwise? Were they looking for scapegoats?

Of course, keshto, the problems between the WICB and the players predates the IPL. But clashes with the IPL can - and are - only serving to exacerbate these problems. Imagine the goodwill the WICB would create if they would just chose to follow the advice of Vettori, Gayle and Manjrekar, and create their own window?

CQ, I wouldn't be so quick to put down the contributions of posters on caribbeancricket.com. Yes, it can be extremely spicy, but there are quite a few posters there who make very incisive contributions, and are very intelligent, just like on 606. And many of them can see thru the pointless of this refusal to grant a window to the IPL, and what damage it's doing to West Indies cricket when the WICB insist on clashing with it....

Hell, with the devastation that Gayle is wreaking on the IPL, the WICB should have a window just for him alone, to ensure that he's happy and available to play for the Windies!

[ddb]

Pointless refusal?

BCCI does not want it at the moment, it wont happen, repeating the same point over and over wont make it.

[ChrisQ]

Not at all....

Holding is pointed out the obvious - teams like West Indies, Sri Lanka and New Zealand suffer from international series that clash with the IPL.

Did you hear that interview with Basu, the fitness trainer for Bangalore? He says that they have a structured fitness training programme at Bangalore, that is different for each player, according to their needs (Gibson, take note).

Actually all cricket boards have this. When Fidel nearly broke his back, the WICB did not send him into a groin treatment programme (Gayle) or for ankle surgery (Bravo).

He also said that Gayle works very hard in the gym (in contrast to the assertions of Gibson, et al, that he doesn't). What Basu says fits in with what Shiv says - that Gayle works hard in the gym.

You can still work hard at the gym and be unfit. Nobody can tell me that all his life Gayle had been doing strength training on his hamstring as quite often (as I'm sure you and others would well remember) Gayle would be partnered with a younger opener who would call him through for a quick single and Gayle would be reluctant and then once he took it, quite a few times he would pull up or collapse at the end of the run with an aching hamstring. How can a guy who wasn't even 30 at those times (and is just about 32 now) have such problems that even Chanderpaul (pushing 37) is a better runner than him? I've seen Gayle. I know he is muscular, but if he was working his upper body and ignored his legs or didn't work on his legs as often, how can be possible conform to the idea of "total body fitness"? Put another way, do you think with all those hamstring problems over the years that Gayle would have survived even one week of military life which is the ultimate standard in fitness?

What Basu says also doesn't necessarily contradict earlier statements. It only proves that Gayle is definitely working hard for Bangalore. But then Bangalore, a team in a competition staged in a country of 1 billion people and millions of cricket fans can more easily afford to pay Gayle the kind of money that seems to inspire him than can the WICB which has a market of 6 million (at most) ever since gate receipts were standardized. Remember how good most of the WI players looked and played when they were training and playing for the Stanford $20 million match? Have you ever seen them play with that kind of focus and dedication again? Does anyone seriously believe that the WICB or any other board can afford to pay them $1 million each per match?

Of course, keshto, the problems between the WICB and the players predates the IPL. But clashes with the IPL can - and are - only serving to exacerbate these problems. Imagine the goodwill the WICB would create if they would just chose to follow the advice of Vettori, Gayle and Manjrekar, and create their own window?

Maybe the WICB should just experience procedural delays the next time Gayle wants an NOC to play for the entire IPL. Then perhaps he may think better of looking a gift horse in the mouth. He already gets to play the "full IPL" and after his radio rant is likely to play "full IPL" for the rest of his career so what's the problem? That he wants to play for West Indies? Please!

CQ, I wouldn't be so quick to put down the contributions of posters on caribbeancricket.com. Yes, it can be extremely spicy, but there are quite a few posters there who make very incisive contributions, and are very intelligent, just like on 606.

The keyword there mike is "few". Not many do and a lot of them really are dullards or are pretending to be behind the safety wall of internet anonymity.
Believe me, most of those posters are not persons who you would want your children to grow up to be like as one would have to consider oneself to be a failure of a parent if they ended up like that.

Hell, with the devastation that Gayle is wreaking on the IPL, the WICB should have a window just for him alone, to ensure that he's happy and available to play for the Windies!

Well they have created a window for him alone with his help. He gets to play to his heart's content and WI cricket goes on. Win-win! Still don't see why he keeps saying he wants to play for West Indies. He doesn't really. He's probably realized that he's burnt a number of bridges in just one interview and has now endangered his Digicel individual sponsorship.

Gayle's performances in the IPL only harden the suspicions I have that he deliberately underperformed before.

[chandersgirl]

super knock its a pity it wasnt for Windies

[mikesiva]

Here, Dr Hilary Beckles, a University of the West Indies professor who studies Caribbean cricket, compares Chris Gayle to a Jamaican 'don', which is the name of drug-dealing murderers in the island's criminal underworld....

http://soundcloud.com/user9892397/hilar ... ture-in-st

Here is Jimmy Adams' polite critique which picks at several flaws in Beckles' speech....

http://caribbeancricket.com/news/2011/05/09/3140

And now WIPA is involved, because of this excerpt from Beckles' speech....

http://caribbeancricket.com/news/2011/05/10/3143

"Frank Worrell is the Father of the Nation, Sobers is the King of Cricket, Clive Lloyd is the Statesman, Richards is the General of the Army, Brian Lara is the Prince, and Chris Gayle is the Don. And these are very interesting images indeed because the movement from the father to the Don and, and those who follow him and his cohort in the team do relate to him as their Don, and he has brought it is said, the Don-manship into how ‘tings’ operate in the team, and what the West Indies Board is trying to do at the moment is to uproot this Don-manship out of the culture in much the same way that the Jamaican people are trying to uproot Dudus from their politics…this West Indies Under-19 team is some interesting collection of very smart and bright young men and there is a different quality of personality at the moment. They do not wish to be like Chris Gayle, they do not wish to be like am, ah, Marlon Samuels…..”

Serious allegations, there, calling Gayle and Samuels 'dons'. I'm not surprised that WIPA are calling for Beckles to be expelled from the WICB. Comparing Gayle to drug-dealing murderer Christopher Coke, a.k.a. Dudus, is slanderous at the very least....

[mikesiva]

Simmons out for a brainless duck....

Brathwaite just doesn't look ready for Test cricket yet. He needs at least another season in FC cricket, because he has some technical deficiencies that the Indians would eat for breakfast.

Sorry, but we need Gayle and Barath back opening the batting, if we're to stand any chance against India....

[ChrisQ]

Simmons out for a brainless duck....

Brathwaite just doesn't look ready for Test cricket yet. He needs at least another season in FC cricket, because he has some technical deficiencies that the Indians would eat for breakfast.

Sorry, but we need Gayle and Barath back opening the batting, if we're to stand any chance against India....

What's with you and Gayle? Are you in debt to him or something? The man is waste! He can do better but doesn't care enough to try! Except when you pay him more money that it is worth.

Simmons, Barath and Brathwaite (yep, Brathwaite) or even Nash would be my choice as openers. No way would I ever go back to a man who makes more ducks than centuries BUT who could make more centuries than ducks IF he puts his mind to it.

Gayle is half-comatose when it comes to understanding where he is from, what he should be representing and what kind of potential he has. Even Mikey Holding would probably have to agree, especially after Gayle apparently expressed surprised at Holding's exploits and apparently said as much to Holding. Forget Gayle.

[mikesiva]

What's with you and Gayle?

It's very obvious to anyone who watched KB's innings a short while ago that he has been pushed into Test cricket too early. He's just not ready yet. If we persist with him, we will destroy him the way we destroyed Xavier Marshall....

Gayle is quite simply a class apart from all other Windies openers in Test cricket. To rule him out of selection based upon a dispute over the IPL is going to cause us more harm than good. Simmons lacks the concentration right now to get three figures in Test cricket, there's no way Nash is going to agree to open the batting at his age, and Barath is injury-prone.

The WICB needs to work out an accommodation with the IPL, or the Windies are going to struggle like they're doing today on a flat batting track. Sarwan goes down the wicket, and gets himself out stumped.

[ntini77]

Admittedly, I didn't see Braithwaite's innings, but surely it's too soon to write him off just yet?

Oh, and Gayle should be in the side. Even at 50% he's by far the best opener we have.

[ChrisQ]

What's with you and Gayle?

Well I thought I made it quite clear what I have against Gayle. Bookies knew he wasn't going to play in the India match, he admitted that he wanted to play the full IPL season before seemingly lying to the public about wanting to play in the Pakistan series (he can't want both since he can't be at both - he can only be at one and it is quite clear which one he wanted to be in..now he may have resigned himself to playing in the Pakistan series at some point, but that does NOT mean he actually wanted to play), he heavily implied that there was something fishy about the World Cup with his reference to the performance as "a statement" and now he apparently has been in a coma for most of his life as what the legends did was news to him at age 31.

Sorry, but I would rather have some sewer rat out there batting than a character like that. Maybe others want to put up with crap, but he would have been dropped long ago in England or Australia. I see no reason why I should put up with half-baked batsmen (those who have talent but are too lazy to apply themselves fully) simply because they can wallop a few sixes. If Gayle were to:

- clarify his World Cup "statement"

- reveal when he got the IPL offer (and not just "at 3 AM" and "after a party")

- admit that he prefers IPL to international cricket and stop treating fans like simpletons by saying one thing today and then another the next

- really apply himself when he is really free to play international cricket

Then I would regain respect for him and not mind seeing him batting again. Otherwise, as I said elsewhere I would sooner take arsenic or cyanide.

It's very obvious to anyone who watched KB's innings a short while ago that he has been pushed into Test cricket too early. He's just not ready yet. If we persist with him, we will destroy him the way we destroyed Xavier Marshall....

You base this off a single innings? So when Gayle goes for a duck do you believe that he also needs to be given a season or two of first-class cricket before being picked for a Test squad again?

Gayle is quite simply a class apart from all other Windies openers in Test cricket.

Very true. He has potential but is so lazy he will never realize it. Truly a class apart (in laziness and potential) and it is best that he be kept apart, lest that laziness rub off on others.

To rule him out of selection based upon a dispute over the IPL is going to cause us more harm than good.

Why? Up to this point NOBODY has addressed the facts that:

1. Gayle ALWAYS wanted to play in the IPL over this series and obviously prefers this to international cricket

2. Gayle is our only long-term opener centurion to have more ducks than centuries

Folks seem to avoid discussing that as if it were the plague, yet plaintively call for Gayle. Gayle is not going to change. He is now too old and set in his ways. Sure Simmons went for a duck today, but a glimpse at Gayle's record will show you that Gayle was more likely to go for a duck than a triple century and that unlike Simmons, a consistency like what Simmons achieved (65, 24, 51, 51, 76, 77, 49, 21, 0) across three formats is pretty much beyond Gayle unless he gets paid apparently ponzi-scheme money (Stanford) or big bucks from Indian corporations. If Gayle has no drive to achieve that consistency just in order to improve himself then he shouldn't be taking up a bat again for WI for all I care. Brathwaite may have a way yet to go, but I don't see how he can be judged one a single innings when quite a lot of his other (and at times senior) teammates batted quite carelessly as well. It is not about solely about technique (otherwise the entire squad save Chanderpaul and Marlon Samuels should go since not one of them seems to be able to handle spin and handling spin is about technique). It is also about a willingness to improve yourself. If Brathwaite shows that willingess, I'm sure he WILL improve especially if (like other players) he is also given stints in the A team to help him improve himself and get practice.

Simmons lacks the concentration right now to get three figures in Test cricket.

I don't see how you come to the conclusion that Simmons lacks the concentration to get 3 figures based off just 3 innings. He's performed better than Sarwan and Nash in the series so far and has the next highest score to Marlon Samuels. As I've pointed out before Simmons has show a fair amount of consistency - 5 half centuries and 1 score of 49 in 9 innings across 3 formats. Thus two-thirds of his innings have been half-centuries. This is a massive improvement on his previous stints and the commentators have all been acknowledging how he has been playing better.

there's no way Nash is going to agree to open the batting at his age,

At his age? You realize Nash is only 2 years older than Gayle right? If Nash is too old, why isn't Gayle? And what about Dilshan? Doesn't he open for Sri Lanka? Isn't he older than Nash?

and Barath is injury-prone

Sure. And Gayle is what? Did he not pick up a groin injury/hernia (supposedly) during the World Cup? Isn't he renowned for his hamstring? Isn't his very nickname ("cramps") indicative of something?

The WICB needs to work out an accommodation with the IPL, or the Windies are going to struggle like they're doing today on a flat batting track.

You see for this argument to hold true, it would require that the WIndies would NOT have struggled had Gayle been there. But then when was the last time WI won a test match? Wasn't it about 2 years ago in 2009? What has WI been doing since then if not struggling? Have WI not scored such mighty totals as 228, 187 (in Australia), 102, 161 (against S. Africa in WI) and 243 (in Sri Lanka) recently whilst Gayle has been opening? In the 15 innings in which WI have made scores of 280+, Gayle has scored more than 45 in about 8 of them and scored a century or more in 5 of them. The rest of the time he struggled to make 30. If about half the time WI can still score 280+ with Gayle barely making as much runs than these guys did today, what does that tell you? It tells me that they are perfectly capable of doing so without needing Gayle.

[mikesiva]

CQ....

I have also made my feelings clear about Gayle, so the same answer to the same question holds true....

1) Bookies and Gayle - speculation and allegations arising out of your open dislike of Gayle, and nothing more....

2) Kraigg Brathwaite - it's not that it's just one innings, it's just the manner in which he played, the flaws in his batting technique, etc. If you look at Darren Bravo, despite his poor scores, his technique is good. If we persist with KB at this level, with such video coverage, we run the risk of destroying him. Desi Haynes is the batting consultant. He needs to work with KB to iron out those deficiences first. Like Shiv, Sarwan and Barath before him (all teenagers when they made their debuts for WI), Brathwaite needs at least two seasons in FC cricket before being called into the WI team. One season is not good enough. There's no reason he will improve if he's persisted with. He could end up like Xavier Marshall....

3) Gayle and the IPL - as I've said many times before, it's not just Gayle, but Jerome Taylor, Dwayne Bravo, Pollard, Malinga, Perera, Randiv, Dilhara, Sanga, Mahela, Sehwag, and Vettori who all place the IPL over international cricket. And, as more players are invited to play in the IPL, you will have more players doing the same. Saying that Gayle is the only abherration is deluding yourself.

4) Your obsession with Gayle's ducks is a pointless twisting of statistics. The only real statistic that matters is his overall Test batting average, and it's far superior to any other current WI opening batsman.

5) You can argue till you're blue in the face about Nash opening, but if he doesn't want to do it, there's nothing you can do about it....

6) Otis Gibson seems to have serious issues with Barath's fitness. It's possible he might go the way of Narsing Deonarine. Where's he now? Exactly....

In conclusion, my argument is this: of course the Windies have struggled with Gayle! But at least with him in the side, the WIndies have a fighting chance. Without him, they will be crushed like flies by the Indian side that comes in June.

I don't care about the moral arguments in favour of forcing players to play international cricket over the IPL. I'm more interested in finding an accommodation with the IPL in order to see the Windies field the best possible side at all times....

[ddb]

3) Gayle and the IPL - as I've said many times before, it's not just Gayle, but Jerome Taylor, Dwayne Bravo, Pollard, Malinga, Perera, Randiv, Dilhara, Sanga, Mahela, Sehwag, and Vettori who all place the IPL over international cricket. And, as more players are invited to play in the IPL, you will have more players doing the same. Saying that Gayle is the only abherration is deluding yourself.

Sehwag I'll give you but that's cos he was supposedly forced by the BCCI. Randiv, Dilhara, Sanga, Mahela have not come out and said international cricket is worse than the IPL nor have they skipped any international games, that's more speculation than ChrisQ about Gayle frankly. Batting for a window does not make me come to the conclusion that players prefer the IPL over international cricket tbh and still can't see there being a window. Look at all the other t20 comps, will they deserve a window too?

[ChrisQ]

CQ....

I have also made my feelings clear about Gayle, so the same answer to the same question holds true....

1) Bookies and Gayle - speculation and allegations arising out of your open dislike of Gayle, and nothing more....

Oh REALLY?!?!? So I suppose I just conjured them out of thin air and that Sports Illustrated India had nothing to do with it and never once mentioned that Bookies were declaring at breakfast that Gayle wouldn't be playing? How would YOU explain it? Please do explain it, because I don't see how the bookies could know confidential team information unless somebody told them. Was it Gayle? Maybe. I've never once said that Gayle told them. I've only said that Gayle or someone else might have told them and that given all the other things he's said and his actions it seems quite likely that Gayle did tell them or that somebody closely associated with Gayle told them. If there is a fault with that line of reasoning, please do point out and offer your alternative.

2) Kraigg Brathwaite - it's not that it's just one innings, it's just the manner in which he played, the flaws in his batting technique, etc. If you look at Darren Bravo, despite his poor scores, his technique is good. If we persist with KB at this level, with such video coverage, we run the risk of destroying him. Desi Haynes is the batting consultant. He needs to work with KB to iron out those deficiences first. Like Shiv, Sarwan and Barath before him (all teenagers when they made their debuts for WI), Brathwaite needs at least two seasons in FC cricket before being called into the WI team. One season is not good enough. There's no reason he will improve if he's persisted with. He could end up like Xavier Marshall....

Really it is just that one innings. It can't be "not that it's just one innings" when it has really been only one innings.

3) Gayle and the IPL - as I've said many times before, it's not just Gayle, but Jerome Taylor, Dwayne Bravo, Pollard, Malinga, Perera, Randiv, Dilhara, Sanga, Mahela, Sehwag, and Vettori who all place the IPL over international cricket. And, as more players are invited to play in the IPL, you will have more players doing the same. Saying that Gayle is the only abherration is deluding yourself.

As others have said, not one of those other names you mentioned openly stated:

- that they wanted to play the full season of IPL (even if they thought so, they were smart enough to keep that to themselves so as not to endanger future opportunities with their board)

- that they prefer T20 cricket over test cricket

Up to this point you keep mentioning Pollard and Bravo, but if I'm not mistaken didn't those two work out accomodations with the board and the IPL? How do they fall into the same category as Gayle again?

4) Your obsession with Gayle's ducks is a pointless twisting of statistics. The only real statistic that matters is his overall Test batting average, and it's far superior to any other current WI opening batsman.

So we accept mediocrity just because others don't get a run? Even Gayle today himself said "This has been one of the longest runs I have ever had, in terms of consistency...". Note he is talking about 9 T20 matches. As being one of his longest runs of consistency. I'm not saying that, Gayle is. And he's 31. I'm sure everyone would agree that Chanderpaul would not consider a mere 9 matches as one of his longest runs of consistency and never would have at age 31.

And the fact that Gayle has more ducks is not a pointless twisting of statistics. It's an uncomfortable fact that people don't want to deal with and hence they brush it away as "pointless" and "twisting". If averages are the only thing that counts then Ravi Rampaul (average of 109 before these tests) should have been permanently banned from playing test cricket and Darren Ganga should have been a permanent member of the WI team based on his first-class average (37.38) and the fact that he had a good series against Australia in 2003 with back to back centuries (113 and 117). However Rampaul has proved that averages aren't everything and I long ago noted (and several others agreed including yourself I believe) that Ganga's first-class average and performances and his nice performance against Australia in 2003 notwithstanding he has been an inconsistent player. Ganga as an inconsistent player was rightly dropped. Gayle as an inconsistent player was oddly kept around.

5) You can argue till you're blue in the face about Nash opening, but if he doesn't want to do it, there's nothing you can do about it....

There's a difference between "at his age" and he doesn't want to. I never argued that he wanted to, simply because I don't know if he would do it or not. You were the one who brought up his age and now that I've pointed out that his age is not an issue, it's about whether or not he wants to. But how are we to know that he wouldn't do it, if asked? Has he been asked? Does anyone know for sure that he has been asked but refused?

6) Otis Gibson seems to have serious issues with Barath's fitness. It's possible he might go the way of Narsing Deonarine. Where's he now? Exactly....

Did I say Barath fit? No. But you've totally avoided my questions on Chris "Cramps" Gayle though....

In conclusion, my argument is this: of course the Windies have struggled with Gayle! But at least with him in the side, the WIndies have a fighting chance. Without him, they will be crushed like flies by the Indian side that comes in June.

You mean like how WI weren't crushed like flies by England and South Africa?

I don't care about the moral arguments in favour of forcing players to play international cricket over the IPL. I'm more interested in finding an accommodation with the IPL in order to see the Windies field the best possible side at all times....

I don't want players to be forced to play international cricket over the IPL. I just want them to be honest about their preferences. Surely you want them to be honest too no? Once they're honest I could care less whether they play in the IPL or in a series.

[mikesiva]

(Michael Holding rightly said on commentary that the BCCI would never schedule a series to clash with the IPL, and vice versa)

Did he really say that? What a pointless statement, clutching at straws comes to mind.

Actually, here's an interview with DNA where Holding expands on his views, and he makes some very good points. Let me stress here that, unlike me, Holding is not a fan of 20/20 cricket....

http://www.dnaindia.com/sport/interview ... ng_1546087

"So you seem to suggest IPL has created disquiet in the WI board?
IPL has created a disquiet in the entire world, except in India because, as I have said before and I say again, the IPL will never clash with an Indian tour and with an Indian series. It will only clash with other people’s cricket and other people are facing the problem of either playing in the IPL or representing their country. But the people running the game keep their mouths shut and never say anything because they do not want to upset the BCCI and the people who are running the IPL.

"Do you mean to say the world cricket managers are scared of BCCI?
I don’t know if they are scared but they are certainly not in charge of the game. ICC is not in charge of cricket. FIFA are in charge of football. They are a proper organisation. They may say that they are corrupt but they run football properly. There might be alleged corruption among the officials, but look at football around the world! It is managed properly. If FIFA wants to hold a tournament or set a rule, every country has to abide by that. ICC is always complying with India. They have no power. They are not in control. If ICC cannot enforce policy, if they do not run the game, what is their purpose?"

And this is what he has to say about Gayle....

"How do you justify the presence of Chris Gayle in the IPL?
You have to ask the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and the coach for that one. They were the ones who forced him to go to the IPL. He was not selected for the first two games here in the Caribbean against Pakistan. He does not have a contract with the board, so he has to go and seek employment somewhere else. As simple as that. The WICB came out at the very beginning with the squad and the plan they had for Bravo and Pollard, but they had no plans for Gayle. So he had no idea where he stood.

"So, you don’t doubt the commitment of Gayle towards WI cricket?
No, I don’t doubt the commitment of Gayle or any other cricketer towards West Indies cricket. What the problem is the amount of money that T20 cricket and IPL is paying. So, you find that the players want to play that tournament because who wouldn’t want to play a tournament that pays them a million dollars for six weeks’ work. What the cricket board has to do at such times is to manage their players so that they get the best out of them and the WICB has not done that.

"A WI official has called Gayle a don. Is player power not holding WI cricket to ransom?
That official has apologised. He has realised that the remark was out of order. It is not player power that caused problems for the WICB. It is the board itself that is dysfunctional and weak.

"WICB was quite happy to release Kieron Pollard. Is there some arrangement? Even in India people are curious about how Pollard got the NOC.
When the WICB came out with the squad, they declared their plans for Pollard and Dwayne Bravo. In that, it was stated that Pollard was free to go and play in the IPL because that would improve his game. That is absolute rubbish because IPL cannot improve his game as a cricketer. WICB is hiding the real reason why they are letting Pollard go and play in the IPL. The same is the case with Bravo. He had to play in the one-day series, but he was allowed to go and play in the IPL instead of the Tests. If anybody asked Bravo what he wanted to do, he would have straight away said that he wanted to play the Test series. But the West Indies officials, who are in charge, did not want him around, so they sent him to the IPL.WICB were being dishonest in that press release in which they announced the squad."