Cricket West Indies (CWI) has intervened in an attempt to cool tempers, following veteran Chris Gayle’s broadside criticisms against legendary former fast bowler, Sir Curtly Ambrose recently.
In an explosive tirade during a media interview, Gayle said he no longer respected Sir Curtly, accusing the Antiguan of being too “negative” in his assessment of the West Indies team and “looking for attention.”
Sir Curtly had said last month that Gayle was “no automatic choice” in the West Indies XI for the Twenty20 World Cup in Dubai due to his recent run of form.
Sir Curtly comments came against a backdrop of Gayle’s controversial inclusion in the ongoing T20 World Cup squad, despite averaging 17 from 16 T20 Internationals this year, and recording a single half century in the last five years.
CWI Chief Executive Officer, Johnny Grave told Starcom Radio’s Mason and Guest show in Barbados recently “we tend to deal with these things in-house. We’ve spoken to Sir Curtly and Chris and it is unfortunate and not something we want to see.”
“We massively respect both individuals and it’s not something we want to encourage. Sir Curtly is working with our Under-19 as our coach and Chris is currently with the team (World Cup) and we’d much prefer everyone focus on the cricket and rally behind the team and talking our world title,” he said.
Grave said while there was no need for disciplinary action, CWI hoped relations between players and ex-players could remain healthy for the sake of West Indies cricket, “just had a quiet word with both of them.”
