Joel Garner is surprised there should have been any concern over his relationship with Chris Gayle on the current West Indies tour of Australia.
One newspaper headline termed the partnership between Garner, the new manager, and Gayle, the reinstated captain, “a recipe for disaster”.
There were other concerns of a potential clash between the two, both known as headstrong straight-talking individuals who were on opposite sides of the most recent divide in West Indies cricket, Garner as West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) director, Gayle as one of the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) members who went on strike last July two days prior to the Test series against Bangladesh.
“I don’t know where people got the impression that would have been a problem,” Garner said yesterday in a telephone interview from Perth where the team is preparing for the third and final Test on Wednesday.
“There was never going to be a problem,” he insisted. “I’ve managed Chris before, on ‘A’ teams (against India in the Caribbean in 1998 and in England in 2002) and we’ve always had a good relationship and that has continued”.
“We (the management) have a responsibility and he has a responsibility and that is it,” the former West Indies fast bowler, now president of the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA), added.
Gayle and the other players originally selected for the first Test against Bangladesh, along with several others outside the squad, opted out over the long-running dispute between the WIPA and the WICB over contracts.
They were replaced by a hastily assembled team that lost both Tests and all three ODIs. They became available again a month prior to the Australian tour following an agreement brokered by CARICOM chairman, Guyana president Bharat Jagdeo.
Gayle was restored as captain and a full strength team chosen, including three players from the Bangladesh series (Travis Dowlin, Darren Sammy and Kemar Roach).
Garner said the merger had been “good”.
“Once the fellows were selected to play, part of the job I had to do was to ensure there was a smooth transition with the players from the strike and those from the second team,” he said. “I’ve found that there were no real rifts.”
Garner noted that the Bangladesh series had given other players an opportunity.
“They have had a taste of what it is to play cricket at the highest level and, as we’ve already seen here, that’s been a boost,” he said.
Kemar Roach, the 21-year-old fast bowler, immediately impressed against both Bangladesh and Australia with his 90-miles-an-hour pace and control while Dowlin, the 32-year-old Guyanese batsman, seized his belated chance.
Dowlin scored 95 and 49 in his second Test and an unbeaten 100 in his second ODI against Bangladesh. Replacing the injured Ramnaresh Sarwan, his 61 was topcore in the first Test in Brisbane before he made way for Sarwan’s return in the second.
