Gayle's forward defence to WICB

By Orville Higgins

Chris Gayle is clearly being well advised. The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) is now asking that he withdraw statements he made on that KLAS interview with yours truly before he can again play for the regional team.

One must remember that the interview was done on April 20. It is now close to the end of October. This means that it has taken the board more than six months to decide on a course of action! If this is what the board wanted all along, it could have asked this of Gayle within a week of the interview being aired.

The signs are obvious! The WICB is clearly on a mission to see Gayle grovel, and those who don't see that this is what this is about are misled. The board doesn't really want him back, but public pressure is mounting. They know it's unlikely Gayle will withdraw his comments, but this would at least take some of the heat off the board. Gayle has asked the board to tell him what specific comments he should withdraw. It is a reasonable position.

Asking the board to tell him what exactly to withdraw is a masterstroke by Gayle. It will now force the WICB to isolate the issues they have a difficulty with, and by doing this it gives Gayle a chance to explain himself further. Because Gayle, essentially, was speaking the truth, the board will not benefit from those issues being revisited and examined critically.

Just apologise and play?

Many feel that Gayle should just go ahead and do what the board has asked. Those who feel that way fall into two categories. First, there are those who love to watch him play and feel that the West Indies team needs him. These fans want to be entertained. It is simple, understandable logic. For these people, Gayle is there to provide pleasure, and to contribute to a team that is still dear to our hearts. Except for serious injury or some major family bereavement, those fans feel that no other issue should be big enough to keep Gayle off the field.

Those fans would understand if it was a monetary issue, but the way they see it, he is rich, wealth he accumulated from cricket, and he should be out there giving back to the game. Gayle, to these people, is not so much human with real feelings and real emotions. He is merely an entertainment commodity with a human face.

Then there is another category of people who want to see Gayle withdraw his comments. They are pro-WICB from day one. People in this category want Gayle to apologise and withdraw his comments because they feel this is one way the board will retain its authority. In other words, the board must continue with this policy of one-upmanship over the players, for this is deemed the natural order of things.

When Gayle did that interview with me, there was immediate talk from some of these same people that Gayle was wrong. That he shouldn't have spoken out the way he did. It doesn't matter that Gayle was exposing the board for what it was - a vindictive, inefficient and weak administration.

Challenging authority

For these people, the status quo of West Indies cricket and, by extension, its administrators, must be preserved at all cost, and any player who dares to speak out against the Holy Grail called West Indies cricket must be put in his place.

Many of those who say Gayle should withdraw his comments are people who believe that the old order of authority must be preserved, no matter what. Many of these same people get intimidated when they see youth with more ability than they will ever have, coming to challenge the way they do things. Deep down, many of them really want Gayle out, and worse, they feel that he should be made to eat several slices of humble pie.

I say to Gayle, be steadfast. Don't be pushed into losing your dignity. It's wonderful to be remembered as a great cricketer, but not at the expense of being a real man.

Orville Higgins is a sportscaster. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.