Former West Indies’ captain Chris Gayle said yesterday he is no longer waiting on the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) to determine his future but he is not retiring from international cricket just yet.
In a lengthy statement in which he accused the West Indies Cricket Board of ignoring his hard work, Gayle said he had had enough and was making plans for his future.
He also appealed to the CARICOM Heads of Government to intervene and do something about his situation.
“I have now reached the stage where I have to say that enough is enough,” Gayle wrote.
He noted that while there was a disciplinary process in West Indies cricket, “yet the Board is allowed to be the complainant as well as policeman, judge, jury and executioner in my case.”
“When I tried to respond to the accusations made against me, I am deemed to be out of place and trying to destroy West Indies cricket,” he declared.
“I am now coming close to the end of my shelf-life as a cricketer” and must “concentrate on providing for my family now and in the future.”
“On this basis, and not hearing from the West Indies Cricket Board with any clear pathway forward, I have come to the bitter realization that I am not wanted by the board and all that has gone before in terms of reconciliation is a sham and a mockery,” Gayle said.
“My eyes are open, my heart is clean, my conscience is clear and the voice of reason is loud in my ears telling me that I should close this chapter in my life. I am not going to be the WICB’s whipping boy. They have said they will root me out and they have succeeded in doing so . . . while attempting to ascribe blame to other people for what is clear is a well-planned set of action,” Gayle contended. (EZS)
More on this story in tomorrow’s SATURDAY SUN.
