Gayle comments were 'approved by West Indies manager'

Chris Gayle: writers block © Getty Images

The West Indies Players' Association has accused the West Indies Cricket Board of attempting to widen the gulf between players and the board by censuring Chris Gayle for his comments made on his Cricinfo blog.

Gayle wrote that the"WICB says they want the best out of players but we also need the best out of the board ... the board is always talking about players needing to change but we, the players, need changes from the board as well. We can't be out in the wilderness all the time because we are the ones who are getting all the blame."

On Monday, Gayle and Ken Gordon, the president of the WICB, met and it is believed Gordon told Gayle that his statement was "ill-advised and has caused unnecessary embarrassment to the WICB". But Gayle refused to apologise and was handed "a very strongly-worded letter of reprimand".

But Dinanath Ramnarine, WIPA's chief executive, said it was "one more instance of WICB using an opportunity to widen the relationship gap between the players and the administration, when the matter could have been dealt with in a more constructive manner".

Ramnarine spoke to Gayle on Tuesday, and then explained that any action against the player was unacceptable as he had, as required, submitted the article to Mike Findlay, the team's manager, and it had been edited and approved by him. Gayle had then received clearance from Findlay both verbally and in writing.

"It seems difficult to understand why Gordon and Findlay would ... demand an apology for comments approved by Findlay," Ramnarine said. "It is also interesting to note that it was the president and not Bruce Aanensen (the WICB's CEO) who is also in England who met with Gayle. Is it because Aanensen publicly referred to the players as 'incompetent' on Saturday and felt he may have lost the respect of Gayle and the team and in fact owed them an apology?

"We all say things we may regret later on, but a president and a CEO have to be especially sensitive to their public utterances like labeling the players 'incompetent' and encouraging them to be economical with the truth.

"The recent action of the WICB president and its CEO does very little to reflect the recommendations of the arbitration panel that agreements must be honoured; procedures must be followed; and an attitude of mutual respect and sincerity must pervade".