Chris Gayle has said he “would not be so sad” if Test cricket died and that he is thinking of standing down as captain of the West Indies.
Gayle, whose arrival just two days before the start of the first of a two-Test series at Lord’s from the Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 event has led to widespread criticism of the opening batsman, including a rebuke from former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd.
It also prompted Andrew Strauss to say: “There’s a line there. Certainly we wouldn’t want our players to arrive two days before.”
However, Strauss was not chosen for the IPL and Gayle, speaking ahead of the second Test against England at Chester-le-Street, told yesterday’s edition of Britain’s Guardian newspaper: “It doesn’t concern him [Strauss].”
“[Strauss ought to] Focus on his team, don’t worry about West Indies, don’t worry about me. Tell him don’t sleep with Chris on his mind, tell him get Chris off his mind,” Gayle said.
The West Indies skipper, who made 28 and 0 at Lord’s, said Strauss had cause to worry about his own game because his rival left-handed opener would not survive in the international arena without Test cricket — the Middlesex man was left out at his own request of England’s squad for next month’s World Twenty20.
On the other hand Gayle, a fan of the short and often lucrative format, said he would not miss Test cricket, still regarded by most players as the pinnacle of the game, if commercial pressures caused its downfall.
“I wouldn’t be so sad,” he said. “Some other players would be. Maybe Andrew Strauss would be sad. Maybe he will be sad if Test cricket dies and Twenty20 comes in. Because there is no way he can make the change. So tough luck.”
“I have liked Twenty20 since it came in. I like it. Who doesn’t? Maybe a couple of the Englishmen wouldn’t like to play Twenty20,” he said.
Gayle, up until the start of this series, had been much praised for the work he’d done as a West Indies captain, including his leadership in the 1-0 win over England in the Caribbean earlier this year.
But the hard-hitting 29-year-old batsman said he would be standing down from the post he took over from Ramnaresh Sarwan in 2007.
“To be honest with you there’s a possibility I might give it up — I will be giving it up shortly,” he said.
“I need some time for myself, to be honest with you, it’s a lot of travelling. There’s always something you have to go and do, you know, extra. Lunch or dinner, some other thing, there’s always something for the captain,” Gayle said.
Lloyd, in an interview with the Cricinfo Web site on Tuesday, said of the timing of Gayle’s arrival in England: “I found [it] pretty strange, because as captain you want to be there with your team, and with your team early.”
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