Embattled West Indies batsman Chris Gayle has lashed back at the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), calling on the body to publicly explain what statement he needed to apologize for or retract.
The Jamaican captain, who recently won the Super Regional 50 Overs competition, said the WICB failed to reveal the nature of his transgression and was now making “a big issue” out of the affair.
Gayle was responding to a decision by the WICB mandating him to withdraw highly controversial comments, made during an interview with a Jamaican radio station following the World Cup earlier this year, before he could be considered for selection.
“They need to put out, to apologize for what. They need to state exactly what Chris Gayle should apologize for rather than keep saying they don’t want an apology, they want me to retract statement now,” Gayle said.
“So they need to make it clear rather than stating just one particular thing and leaving the public to speculate again and just make this one big issue which I’m tired of so they need to just cut it out now,” he said.
The WICB broke its silence recently to announce the decision on Gayle, which was taken at a recent board of directors meeting in St. Lucia.
Several attempts to resolve the matter ended in failure, including a high-level meeting in Jamaica that included Gayle, WICB officials and representatives from the West Indies Players Association (WIPA).
The WICB has not specified, however, which statements they wanted Gayle to retract and the Jamaican opening batsman remained adamant he needed to know what these comments were.
Gayle has gone on record as saying he would not apologize for his comments, some of which were critical of the WICB and head coach Ottis Gibson.
