Cozier on Sunday
FOR Chris Gayle to have been retained as West Indies captain for the forthcoming two Tests against Bangladesh, as he has been, the selectors and the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) needed to be convinced of his commitment to the role for at least another year.
Had he remained as downbeat as he was in an interview in a British newspaper last May someone else would surely have taken over by now.
He revealed then that his enthusiasm for Test cricket was being diminished by schedule overload (he wouldn’t be “sad” if it died out was the way he clumsily and misleadingly put it) and that he intended to give up the captaincy “shortly”.
Even though Gayle protested that he had been misinterpreted, it was the negative attitude of a reluctant leader. His delayed arrival in London two days before the first Test so that he could turn out in one last Twenty20 match for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League (IPL) in South Africa seemed to confirm his priorities.
Had they remained the same, he needed to step aside, or be removed, to allow a new skipper the ideal preparation of a home series against Bangladesh.
In spite of their shocking record of a solitary victory (over Zimbabwe) in their 59 Tests, they cannot be underestimated by opponents who are only one rung above them on the ICC’s rankings. But they are flyweights compared to the heavyweights next on the Test card for the West Indies – Australia in Australia later this year and South Africa at home in the second half of next season. In between are various, significant one-day tournaments – the Champions Trophy in South Africa in September and, next year, ODI series in Australia and the third World Twenty20 Championship in the Caribbean.
Surely Gayle, even as jaded as he claims to be, wouldn’t be so uncaring as to take his leave once Bangladesh are gone and leave yet another captain – the seventh in a dozen years – to handle the daunting challenges just ahead.
Even if that was so, the options are limited.
Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan have already drunk from what has become a poisoned chalice and publicly stated they won’t touch it again.
Denesh Ramdin, pitch-forked into the vice-captaincy when Ramnaresh Sarwan curiously quit prior to the New Zealand tour last December, and Dwayne Bravo, Gayle’s deputy in South Africa two years ago, remain in the frame. Their time will come but, right now, they lack experience and, as keeper and key all-rounder, already have plenty on their plate.
In other words, for all his cool-dude approach, his tactical deficiencies, his stand-offs with the board and his confusing comments, Gayle was the man once genuinely prepared to take on the later, more pressing engagements that follow Bangladesh.
His role as opening batsman is as critical to the team’s strength.
His flat-footed method does not stand up to technical scrutiny but it is counter-balanced by his awesome power and aggressive intent. Only the Indian, Virender Sewag, among his contemporaries, is as capable of dismantling an attack – and not in the shorter formats alone.
It is ironic that he should have moaned about the burdens of Test cricket and leadership in his much discussed newspaper revelations.
Jimmy Adams, who himself has experienced the pressures of West Indies captaincy in a year at the helm, stated that Gayle was “looking forward to the day he can be himself again, bat in his own style, enjoy his game in his own way.”
Yet, since he came to the captaincy by default two years ago, following injuries to Sarwan, the originally chosen successor to Brian Lara, Gayle’s batting has flourished.
In his 14 Tests in that time (against South Africa, Sri Lanka, Australia, New Zealand and England), he has averaged 46.55 against an overall 39.58. His 197 against New Zealand in Napier last December, occupying eight and a half hours yet still including seven sixes, typified a new maturity. To me, it was his finest innings.
His limited-overs returns have also been impressive – an ODI average of 45.17 in 25 matches and some unforgettable hitting in the Twenty20s.
Adams noted the many West Indies captains, including himself, who have succumbed to the burdens of leadership.
“I only did the job for a year, and that was enough for me,” he said. “It is hard to describe what it is like to lead a losing team, with the expectation that exists in the Caribbean, until you have experienced it for yourself.”
Richie Richardson came down with acute fatique syndrome, Brian Lara initially quit to take a break from the game, Chanderpaul gave it up to concentrate on his batting.
Gayle has shown signs of similar disenchantment. Now that he has stayed on, he has the chance to break the mould.