West Indies Cricket Board dismisses Chris Gayle’s allegations
The http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 without any prior notice. The board insisted that it was Gayle who
made himself unavailable for the national assignment before flying to India to play in the lucrative Indian Premier League.
The flamboyant Jamaican opener was not selected for the ongoing series against Pakistan and Gayle blamed the board saying he was left with no other option but to join the money spinning Twenty20 league in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750.
But the board negated Gayle’s claims and said that they could prove their point by releasing the conversation with the cricketer. However, the board made it clear that they do not have any such intention.
"We can dispel all that Chris (Gayle) said by releasing the letters and emails," said the Chief executive officer of WICB, Ernest Hilaire, while talking to a sports website.
"But we should not do that. You communicate with a player, you ask for his opinions, you ask for him to account on certain statements he made, you ask him what's his position on certain things and you expect to be treated with a certain
degree of confidence," he added further.
The WICB chief did make it clear that the board did not intend to prove the batsman wrong. He did however, express disappointment over the way Gayle had handled the matter.
"We said to Chris repeatedly that as far as we are concerned you're injured, you're doing a rehabilitative programme, and that when you're finished we want you tested and if you're available we'll pick you to play for West Indies," he said.
Hilaire, who took over the coveted role of the WICB CEO on 1st October 2009, said that the board tried hard to reach out for the swashbuckling opener but once he flew to India, they were left with no other option but to issue
him a no objection certificate (NOC) to participate in the IPL.
Hilaire further added that the board did not have any grudges with the left-hander and it was proved by the NOC he was handed to play in the IPL despite making himself unavailable for national assignment.
He also turned down the common view point that the WICB did not want its players to earn a living by joining other leagues. He clarified that the Board never questioned any player's decision to join international leagues as long as they
honoured their commitments to the national cricket.
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