What's wrong with West Indies?
In the Times , Mike Atherton looks at the problems with West Indies cricket and comes up with myriad issues, including the poor attitude of the captain Chris Gayle.
Brydon Coverdale
25-Feb-2013
In the Times, Mike Atherton looks at the problems with West Indies cricket and comes up with myriad issues, including the poor attitude of the captain Chris Gayle.
If the captain does not care, why should the players? Chris Gayle deserves some sympathy for the way this tour was foisted upon his team when he and others had prior arrangements, but that is where the sympathy should stop. Captaincy, in no small measure, is about sacrificing yourself for something bigger and leading by example.
How much has Gayle given of himself this tour? When he delivered some half-baked truths two days before the Test at the Riverside, did he stop and think of the effect his indifference to the longer format of the game would have on his team? Reflecting on his side's chances in the World Twenty20 on Tuesday, he quipped that the games would be a bit shorter, so maybe his side would be able to concentrate better. It summed up his attitude.
Brydon Coverdale is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. He tweets here