Kingston, Jamaica – Following is a statement from the West Indies Cricket Board on the meeting with Chris Gayle.
On Tuesday June 14th Chief Executive Officer of the WICB, Dr. Ernest Hilaire; Director of Cricket, Anthony Howard; Head Coach Ottis Gibson and Team Manager Richie Richardson met with Chris Gayle in Kingston.
Gayle was accompanied by West Indies Players Association President and CEO Mr. Dinanath Ramnarine and WIPA Vice President Wavell Hinds at the meeting.
The WICB team outlined to Gayle that the Board has had issues historically in communicating with him and establishing a productive working relationship. Exceptional efforts had been made, especially during his tenure as Captain, to establish that relationship.
Gayle was previously written to by the Board about these issues. The issues include his social media announcements that he was taking a break from the game, that the Sri Lanka tour had been cancelled, among others. He demonstrated an unwillingness to engage the Board.
This pattern of behaviour culminated with his widely publicized interview on KLAS radio in Jamaica.
WICB is of the view that comments had a detrimental effect on the relationship with the West Indies Team Management, the WICB management and was unbecoming for a professional sportsman who would be desirous of playing within that same team environment.
The Gayle team did not share this view and articulated their position that Gayle’s conduct was a response to how he felt the Board treated him and had tarnished his name and reputation.
There was a frank exchange on the differing views.
Gayle sought an explanation as to why he was not picked for the India Series. The WICB Team explained that:
* The comments made by him in the KLAS interview had created much ill-will with Team Management and unless there was a settling of differences, it would be difficult to see how the parties could harmoniously function;
* That WICB Management had to establish with him the necessity to respect rules and regulations and his willingness to engage, in a constructive manner, on matters which are of concern to him;
* That the Selection Committee would have to meet with him to discuss issues relating to the Selection Criteria;
* That the WICB Board of Directors would need to provide policy guidelines on how to handle players who for reasons other than fitness, or personal distress make themselves unavailable for selection but expect to be selected whenever they deem it necessary to make themselves available.
After lengthy discussions the WICB’s team outlined that Dr. Hilaire would have to meet with the WICB Board of Directors and the Selection Committee to report on the discussions and establish the way forward having now had a frank and direct discussion with Gayle. As the Board Meeting is today Friday June 17th, it was proposed that the WICB Management would write Gayle after the meeting to outline the way forward.
The meeting with Gayle ended in uncertainly though as Mr. Ramnarine insisted that the WICB has no business writing to players and under no circumstances should WICB be writing to Gayle or any player for that matter as it is his view that the players are not in the employ of the WICB.
The Board of Directors will receive a Report from the CEO on the meeting with Gayle and the behaviour, actions and conduct of Mr. Ramnarine during the meeting with Gayle.
Oh dear.. too many egos.. these people need a gooooood mediator in order to resolve this ongoing problem!
When will they start picking board members, that might solve the problem, they can’t manage, they might just beable to play some cricket… Gayle should be on the team, we tend to forget that it was the coach who started the public war of words. Who the kcuf the coach thing he is that he can publicly redicule players and not expect a response. Gayle was well within his right to respond, if gayle has to retract his statement then Hilaire, Coach and the board should also retract their statements..Chanderpaul also took issue with statements made by Hilaire and Co..
Good riddance to Gayle if he doesn’t see it fit to conform to rules governing his engagement as a cricketer with the West Indies team. Gayle is not bigger than the WI team as he seems to think. He may be talented as a batsman, but as captain, he sucked. The WI team is winning after they had lost,… not a good thing, but under Gayle’s leadership, we were being white-washed on our own turf. Later for U Gayle!!!!
let gayle go do his business
I mean WTF is going on here? I mean who the f… is Gayle ah??
Boss stop making those new players feel they wuill be dropped for that idiot, all you destroying their confident on remaining on the team even after they played so damn hard to take out shame in our eyes!!!
Come on WI let gayle go and find other employment he is still a young man with all his strength and vigor……
Gayle, thanks for your service in the past. When in full flight, it was an absolute delight to watch you bat and destroy the most penetrating bowling. Now that you have grown bigger than this “wonderful game of glorious uncertainties” I believe it is time for you to move on. As you have so properly signalled, the IPL is the place for you. It is a place where money speaks, and no hot sun to bathe in.
Thanks for the entertainment, but good friends must part someday. Wishing you all the best. I will be writing to the WICB with a similar letter to see their backs as well. the west Indies is the only losing team in the recently concluded Cricket World Cup where there was little or no change. Inother countries you heard about coaches and managementstaff either resigned or fired.In the West indies they were rehired without any conditionalities. Its a Caribbean thing they say.
When it’s over, West Indies Cricket will be the ultimate looser. Contrary to what many are saying, Chris Gayle is the most feared batsman in the world and I cannot understand why he is out when he is available and we are strugling as a team. Because we won two onedayers yesterday don’t be fooled in believing that we don’t need Gayle to face India that will include the likes os Dravid, Latchman and other top international players. As far as I am concerned, I see unprofessionalsm on both sides and according to Clive Lloyd yesterday, they should all put away their ego and pride and put West Indies first. I have always maintained that we have talent in the Caribbean but managent somehow find a way to kill our cricket by always trying to bully our senior players out instead of bringing in our young players to play and learn with senior players. Stuart Williams for example, would have served us much better if only they had given him a chance to learn from Desmond Haynes. But instead they forced Haynes out to the point that he even had a law suit against them. They did the same to Viv Richards at a time when Viv really wanted to play some more for Windies. What we need to understand is: It’s not the CEO, president, coach, selectors etc. that make us feel good as West Indians but it’s our players that go out their to perform for us. So if executive cannot get players to work with them then they need to fire themselves and give our players a chance to represent us.
West Indies STINKS with and without GAYLE.. They are loosing all the time. Do they need the additional distraction that Gayle is bringing to the scene? I don’t think so.
Gayle could be “feared” as much as he wants, but every team in the world knows how to beat West Indies when Gayle is playing. Right now, West Indians don’t care about whether Gayle is feared or not; they want the team to win. Will Gayle cause the team to start winning? Heck NO…then I say get rid of all the distractions and none sense, and send him on his way.
The WICB has mismanaged west indies cricket for some time now…that doesn’t make Gayle’s action right but someone has to stand up to their nonsense. They did the same shit with Brian Lara, on an England tour. the guys are not paid enough but they are expected to put their lives on hold waiting on a call to play. They have to take care of themselves when injured rather than the WICB making the right arrangements to care for injuries. It’s basically go to your country and rest and we will send you an email to see how you doing…just to get on the record that we contacted you..Bull Shit. They should apologize to gayle.
Otis Gibbon need to take his second rate cricketer a.. back to England….
From what i have gathered the international West Indian cricketers are the third or fourth highest paid cricketers in the world after Australia and India.
You think these Windies cricketers short of money?………lol.
West indies cricketer make money from endorsements primarily….Look at Shane being given a contract of 23k us for a year, please compare it to what the Aussies and Indians make. It’s no where close. The WICB take months on end to pay match fees while the board members get paid monthly…
The WIPA has to fight the plays rights because before then the players had no voice.
The WICB and The WIPA have an agreement that all written communication to players has to go through the WIPA…what did Hunte respond I will keep contacting the players directly…so why was an agreement made. Gayle may have an ego but his has been the best WI player for the past 10 years.
havent read through all of it, but this seems to be the full minutes of the meeting
http://twitdoc.com/view.asp?id=13219&sid=A77&ext=PDF&lcl=AIDE-MEMOIRE-docx-June-17th-2011.pdf&usr=CaribbeanSport1&doc=58105738&key=key-2lrbtngbhnjqg2lq8hbo
West Indies cricket has become like a joke. No player should make such demads on a boord and be given such media sport light. Also, WIPA has made a mess of things in the last five years, encouraging slackness from players.
Prima donna. Let him go. Too much distraction for a team that already tethers on mediocrity.
Bring back Lloyd, Richards, Greenidge, Haynes, Kallicharran, The Shillingfords, Kanhai, Gibbs, Holding, etc. Ohhhhhhh…How I long for those days. Those were the days when cricket was played by men…Now all you have is a bunch of spoiled brats who know nothing about team dynamics…
I don’t think highly of the WICB either…
Dubique, I couldn’t agree with you more. Gayle (and all the others contemplating his move MUST know that the persona, fame and fortunes that they now enjoy was natured and enabled by WI cricket and the actions of the WICBC. They are not bigger than the game. The game made them, they did not make the game. Purely by himself, for all the native talent and skills he might have had growing up, what/who Gayle is, could not have happened without a lifetime of investment of money and other types of resources in him on the part of WI cricket – encouraged and supported by the manageners of WICBC. Why are we continuing to coddle these recalcitrants who dare to teach us that they are above us and the game ought to be sent on their way. After all, it’s not as if Gayle has much more cricket left in him anyway.
I guess the report to the WICB will reference the hostility that almost became physical.
This is too much headache over a player that has failed West Indies. Under his leadership, the team did nothing, much like what is happening now. So why all the hoopla? He wants to tell them when he is available for selection and when he is not? Get real..Is this West Indies Cricket? Let him go and move on.
Dinanath Ramnarine and his WIPA are seemingly bent on creating trouble in West Indies cricket.
And with regards to Gayle, yes he is a good player but he has to learn that he is not the master of the WICB. Those of us who heard Gayle’s radio interview heard him make statements such as “the WICB needs to get off his back”……”he hopes the coach Otis Gibson never comes back to ask him no more questions with regards to the team and that Gibson should go and learn to do his job”.
So how Gayle can just expect to walk back into the West Indies cricket team just like that nah?
It would seem he wants to choose when he wants to play for the windies and when he doesn’t. Utter nonsense.
wtf… “The meeting with Gayle ended in uncertainly though as Mr. Ramnarine insisted that the WICB has no business writing to players and under no circumstances should WICB be writing to Gayle or any player for that matter as it is his view that the players are not in the employ of the WICB.”
totally agree with this point………
“That the WICB Board of Directors would need to provide policy guidelines on how to handle players who for reasons other than fitness, or personal distress make themselves unavailable for selection but expect to be selected whenever they deem it necessary to make themselves available.”