WINDIES CAPTAIN DECLARES THAT HE SHIRKS FROM NO ONE

PORT OF SPAIN, TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO – "Chris Gayle never shirks from no one or no responsibility, never, whatever the team requires, I'll do it." Those were the confident words of West Indies captain Chris Gayle at the pre-game media conference as a war of words developed between the two captains before the Second Digicel Test at the Queen's Park Oval.

Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene fired the first shot saying that West Indies captain Chris Gayle's decision to demote himself from his usual opening position during the First Digicel Test in Guyana, was a negative move which played into the hands of the Sri Lankans.

"It shows that they are going on a bit of a negative path, it played into our hands. Once he comes there (at number 6) he is one of their top players and he won't have the batting depth to bat with towards the latter part of their innings, he's got to bat with his tailenders and if we keep him quiet we can go with the other guys," said Jayawardene who led his team to their first Caribbean Test victory in the First Digicel Test at the Guyana National Stadium.

But the West Indies captain fired back saying Jayawardene was wrong in his assessment.

"I think he is wrong about that because if you check other international teams, (they) have done it before and no one said anything about it. Herschelle Gibbs used to open the batting (for South Africa) and batted in the middle for a year or two, we West Indians always come down hard on ourselves," said Gayle, who batted at number six and scored his first half century against Sri Lanka after an abysmal time opening the batting. The strapping left hander has made five ducks against the Sri Lankans and has fallen to left arm swing bowler Chaminda Vaas on seven occasions.

Gayle argued that rather than hiding from Vaas, it was a team decision for him to bat lower down the order.
"I might go to number six and you people (the media) might take it negative and say 'Vaas got him out' or whatever the case may be but it is a team effort, you try and combine everything together and do not try and put it in a negative," argued Gayle.

"I don't just come up and say I am going to do that, I ask questions 'players what do you think?', 'what's the best solution for the team?' and if they do agree with it then I will go with it I just don't come up and make my own decision and say I am going to bat at number six, I ask for a collective input for everything," Gayle revealed.

"If it didn't work I'm sure you guys would be here cutting my throat as well but I'm prepared for all these things, it doesn't matter what you people want to say," Gayle told the media.
Jayawardene was confident that Gayle was not going to repeat what he deemed a mistake and bat down the order.

"I don't think he will make the same mistake in this Test match but we will adjust ourselves to whatever they come up with. That's the challenge in Test cricket, with our combinations and the way we want to play we are happy with the way we are doing things and hopefully we can create that pressure for them to keep changing things," the Sri Lankan captain asserted.
But Gayle said a decision was not yet made on where he will bat, especially after replacement opener Dwayne Bravo made 83 in the second innings of the First Digicel Test. At the conclusion of the First Digicel Test Gayle had said that he will return to opening the batting and that Bravo will return to his usual number six slot.
Asked about the pressures of being an international captain Gayle said he has been enjoying his new role even with the additional responsibilities.
"I've enjoyed it, I get the support of the players and the spectators, it's a little bit more pressure but it is something I can handle, overall I am enjoying it and hopefully we can turns things around in Trinidad," Gayle concluded.

The Second Digicel Test starts on Thursday April 3rd.