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Gayle has got to go

Mr Mxyzptlk

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Somewhat interesting, scathing commentary by Andre Baptiste.

Chris Gayle is still the wrong man for the job of West Indies captain. Let me repeat, for those whose hearing may be prejudiced by incessant reggae music: Christopher Henry Gayle is not the person to lead West Indies into a bright and prosperous period of cricket. People, 2010 will soon be upon us, and must we all get confused and lose our senses because Gayle decided to concentrate (for once) and carry his heavy bat through an entire innings in the second Test in Australia. My concern, and my questions to Chris Gayle, when next I interview him will be: “Chris, why now, dear Sir?” and “Why not before? Why not when Brian Charles Lara was captain?”, and “Why not when Shivnarine Chanderpaul was captain?” and recently, “Why not when Daren Ganga was captain and needed your help the most?” It would be revealing to hear his answer and, if he answered sincerely, what would it be?

Having had the opportunity to interview him on many occasions, one senses this captaincy issue deep down in his heart means a lot to him, even if in subsequent interviews he may have said otherwise. If Gayle is a true West Indian captain, he must demonstrate this level of dedication, application and discipline consistently from the second Test to justify he has any right to remain skipper. We in the Caribbean are too easily pleased by one innings, one performance. The truth is Gayle was under tremendous pressure from the Caribbean with well known former cricketers calling for his removal. Gayle knew despite his support from certain members of the West Indies Cricket Board, his job as captain was in jeopardy and tenuous. We must not, therefore, ease the pressure because of his 165 not out because even in that Test there were glaring captaincy mistakes. The most blatant was the inexplicable decision not to utilise Dwayne Bravo earlier in Australian’s second innings, and after capturing the first wicket, to remove him from the attack.

This team, we all are aware, has the talent, but it has always been the ability to fight that is lacking. Without a doubt, the four T&T players have brought in their own individual ways, a fighting spirit and a mental toughness borne out of confidence achieved during tournaments in India and Guyana, under Ganga, the most astute captain in the region. There is nothing in the leadership style of Chris Gayle that would suggest anyone can learn anything of value from him. Gayle has an attitude problem, and the West Indies captaincy is about having the proper temperament for any and all situations, even when things are not in your favour. Gayle has demonstrated he makes selective decisions based on who is involved and how important he believes they are to the West Indies cause and not necessarily whether it is right or wrong. That sort of leadership is from the dark ages and if the current West Indies manager, Joel “Big Bird” Garner does not realise that, then we can understand why he is still a member of the WICB.

So let us not lose sight of the greater picture, that West Indies cricket is still rudderless and without a quality leader at all levels, and until that changes, nothing will happen positively for the long term in West Indies cricket. Therefore, whatever happens in in Perth, we must remove Gayle, if our cricket is to improve. To do anything less is to show signs of cowardice and to further hinder the progress of West Indies cricket. Chris Gayle will be 31 in 2010. He made his Test debut in 2000 against Zimbabwe and some ten years later he has only 11 Test centuries to his name after 84 matches and 148 Test innings. In other words, he cannot change, so please let’s change him before it is too late.


Trinidad Guardian
 

Top_Cat

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Far out, bit over-the-top.

Bit surprised the article didn't end with "In summary, two words; 9.11."
 

vic_orthdox

Global Moderator
I think that the last thing that the Windies need now is for Gayle to be removed as captain. They have the skeleton of a side at the moment, and they need the stability of a captain, and one that plays in all XIs at the moment is desirable, IMO. Especially disagree with the idea of bringing in a player just for his leadership qualities despite his ordinary record, they don't have the depth to allow themselves to do that.

Let him captain a full strength side, and see the results then.
 

vic_orthdox

Global Moderator
Gayle
Barath
Sarwan
Chanderpaul
Bravo
Nash
Ramdin+
Taylor
Benn
Edwards
Roach

Decent team there, one would think.
 

Burgey

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Article's OTT imo. Just because the bloke's laid back doesn't mean he's blase about captaining.

He also doesn't have the cattle most of the time. I mean, I know we've had our injuries in recent times, but FMD if I can recall the Windies being at full strength in years.
 

Mr Mxyzptlk

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I think the bias of the article is summed up with this: "Let me repeat, for those whose hearing may be prejudiced by incessant reggae music..."

It's a shame that journalists feel the need to reinforce any tension between the islands. Good help on the unity front, ey.
 

honestbharani

Whatever it takes!!!
Gayle
Barath
Sarwan
Chanderpaul
Bravo
Nash
Ramdin+
Taylor
Benn
Edwards
Roach

Decent team there, one would think.
definitely.. esp. if the guys can pull together instead of it being one guy doing well when no one else is.. Rather take a few bad losses where no one contributes if it can also mean a few good wins where everyone contributes...
 

BoyBrumby

Englishman
Thought Baptiste could've squeezed in a Hitler reference, but otherwise good, bug-eyed, spittle-flecked, hyperbolus stuff.

Is he a Trini, by any chance?
 

NZTailender

I can't believe I ate the whole thing
Have always thought Gayle a decent captain. In fact, I remember a Mxyzptlk post praising his style once, with which I agreed. Don't know which thread it was in, though.
 

bryce

International Regular
Who is Andre Baptiste proposing as captain in Gayle's place?
:dry:
This is exactly what I was thinking. Ganga isn't that good enough captain or batsman to displace one of the incumbent batsman. Yes he may be a well regarded captain but all of the top 6 have earnt their place and deserve to keep it. This article really needs a follow up piece - maybe something along the lines of "drop Brendan Nash for Darren Ganga". If he wants to suggest a new test captain then he needs to look at someone from that XI vic posted.
On a unrelated note lol, was Ramdin once an age-group captain?
 
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zaremba

Cricketer Of The Year
Be interesting to see what Mr Baptiste says after today's knock from the skipper.
"The better he plays now, the more he shows how poorly he did under other captains, and therefore the more reason to strip him of the captaincy" if I followed his logic correctly
 

Richard

Cricket Web Staff Member
Gayle
Barath
Sarwan
Chanderpaul
Bravo
Nash
Ramdin+
Taylor
Benn
Edwards
Roach

Decent team there, one would think.
There's been quite a few times in the last 7-8 years where I've thought that TBH. Reality often turns-out rather different.
 

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