It has finally happened. The coolest dude in cricket has finally lost his temper with his bumbling side following a second successive loss to Zimbabwe. I'd always thought that Gayle losing his cool was as likely as Gordon Brown getting a positive approval rating. Obviously I was wrong.
Speaking after the game, an honest Gayle reserved his ire for three batsmen in partcular saying "In the Australia series, I saw improvements in the likes of Pollard and Smith. To come here ... and the way they went about it, I must say I am very disappointed in those two guys and Ramdin. Those guys were key for us and the way they went about it was a terrible display. It is very disappointing and sad to see how they went about it."
Maybe Gayle's propensity to get out to Doug Bollinger in Australia has finally chipped away at that cool veneer? But his criticism of the three amigos was spot on. In what despite my negative comments yesterday was a fascinating contest, most of the West Indies batsmen snookered themselves in their run chase by getting out to ridiculous shots. Smith in particular was at fault after getting out with only four needed from the last three balls. Gayle went further and refused to offer excuses saying "When you do crap, it's definitely crap and there is no excuse." This kind of honesty is refreshing in a World where cricketers, footballers and rugby players and managers are all too ready to offer excuses or blame the match officials when things go wrong. Gayle, who could have easily referred to the mad schedule that saw his side play T20Is in Sydney last Tuesday and then Trinidad on Sunday, thought that the West Indies played crap, so he said so.
Luckily for Gayle, there are four more matches in the series for his side to redeem themselves, which even though Zimbabwe are better than most people would have thought, should surely see West Indies win the series. Shouldn't it?
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