(Trinidad Express) West Indies Players’ Association (WIPA) president Dinanath Ramnarine is confident that former Windies captain Chris Gayle will be vindicated of all wrongdoing when his dispute with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) is finally settled.
The hard-hitting Jamaican opener has been in the WICB’s “bad books” over comments he made about the Board and team management following the 2011 World Cup and since then has not been selected for the regional team.
During a press conference at WIPA’s headquarters, Edward Street, Port of Spain on Friday, Ramnarine said they are dealing with the Gayle issue.
Ramnarine stated: “Make no mistake, we have taken this up and believe strongly that it will end with the vindication of Gayle.”
But there seems to be no end in sight in the ongoing saga, with the WICB holding firm that the left-hander must withdraw the statements he made during an interview with a Jamaican radio station last year.
After meetings between the WICB and Gayle, the talismanic opener is still on the sidelines despite being fully fit and in good form, with dominating performances in Twenty20 tournaments in India and more recently in Australia.
“It is my understanding that Gayle wrote to the WICB late in October to outline what they wanted him to do in order to resolve the issues. There has been no response to date from the WICB,” said Ramnarine.
“WIPA needs to address this issue because we will not stand by and allow this type of precedent to be set with our players.
“In truth and in fact, the WICB’s handling of the Chris Gayle issue has drawn condemnation from at least one West Indies cricket legend and a former president of the WICB itself,” Ramnarine added.
He agreed with former WICB chief Pat Rousseau that current West Indies Cricket Board chief executive officer Ernest Hilaire’s handling of the issue “smacks of a petty, vindictive agenda against Gayle”.
“There needs to be some level of maturity and it is clear that the present Board and its CEO are incapable of resolving any issues whatsoever. If Chris has done anything wrong, he has said publicly that he is prepared to apologise for it or withdraw the statements.
“He has asked the Board to clarify the situation…what exact statements they want him to withdraw. At the end of the day natural justice dictates that if somebody has done something wrong, they should be given an opportunity to be heard…one will hope that in the end, good sense will prevail,” stated Ramnarine.
