Gayle the Exception, Not the Rule

Chris Gayle has always been something of an enigma. I was in Barbados in 2007 when he disinterest lead to a number of fielding errors and refusing several catches against Bangladesh, an attitude which ended in torrents of abuse from a West Indian public that expects more. Equally, who can forget how electrifying he can be with bat in hand, smashing quality attacks all over the place in blistering knocks when at his best. However, it is his attitude rather than his bat that has been attracting the headlines so far this summer.
Firstly there was his decision to stay with his IPL franchise rather than join up with his team. It is impossible to say that coming back earlier and having some warm up games would have resulted in a better return at Lord's than 28 and 0 but those meager offerings did little to persuade anyone that he made the right choice. Of even more concern was his ambivalence as his team collapsed to a crushing defeat. If a captain can't stir the troops then who can?
His lack of preparation drew comment from Andrew Strauss, who was quick to point out that no member of the England team would have been able to stay at what is essentially a domestic tournament at the expense of Test Match preparation. Amazingly, this rather innocent comment stirred the sort of passion so lacking last week as he launched a scathing attack on Strauss and Test Match cricket.
His outburst will have sent ripples of concern through the ranks of purists across the globe because for the first time an international cricketer has voiced their fears; that in the minds of some, Test Match cricket has been replaced by the shortest and most financially rewarding format. Fortunately, the majority of his fellow professionals don't think this way and Gayle has never been orthodox, but it is a genuine wake up call to those keen to push the T20 bandwagon and grab the cash: when you take the money you have to think what it will cost you. Test cricket needs preserving and protecting, and saturating the market with the cash cow format will do the sport no favours in the long term.