WE have seen it time and time again. He stands tall at the wicket not unlike a lion patrolling his den. He pulls the bat inside the line, giving the impression that he would probably prefer to be patrolling on a beach in Barbados. He casually, almost carelessly, brushes the bat dangerously close to deliveries as they whiz their way to the keeper, forcing a thousand “Oooohs” from expectant fans. It’s his way of leaving alone.

Then in a sudden flash he pounces on anything — whether short and wide or perfectly pitched — and sends it crashing to the boundary.

The sheer savagery with which Chris Gayle brutalises bowlers can easily lead one to believe that he has some inherent disdain, some inherent contempt for them.

Christopher Henry Gayle explains this contemptuous, this disdainful batting, “I would say that’s naturally me, no disdain, no contempt, from a younger age I’ve been batting the same way as I am right now, timing the ball well and always picking off bowlers, I’ll say it’s definitely timing, there’s no big thing about it.”

Fans all across the Caribbean were certainly looking forward to ‘big things’ from him during the Cable & Wireless 2002 Series. He faltered at the beginning but then treated fans with what they have been dying for, vintage Gayle bashings.

“Changing opening partners at the beginning of the series affected my batting because I don’t really communicate well with Stuart Williams between the wicket,” Gayle revealed as he looked back on the series.

He continued, “I was outscored by Stuart a few times and I tried to adapt to the situation and unfortunately I got out and I think I got messed up there.”

“I think in the India series I also put pressure on myself by thinking some negative thoughts but I tried to overcome it and I’m trying my best not to think that way again,” Gayle said. He’s not willing to elaborate on what those obviously troubling ‘negative thoughts’ were.

His scores reflected the rough time he had. Twelve in Guyana, 13 and a responsible 52 in the Port-of-Spain loss, 14 and 0 in the Barbados victory, 32 in the drawn Antiguan encounter and 68 and 15 on home turf.

Gayle thinks he puts pressure on himself.

All told he had 206 runs at an average of 29.4. Nothing close to what he was hunting for.

Then the One-Dayers rolled around. After the rained-out Jamaican double-header he had 16 to start things off in Barbados, then a hurricane 84 to pilot the Windies to a crushing victory, seemed to have signalled a turn around of sorts. The following day though he faltered again, falling for three as the Windies lost the series.

Then the Indians went home and up came the Kiwis. It was his turn now. He came up trumps with a Man-of-the-Series performance in the just concluded One-Dayers.

One hundred and ninety four runs in four innings at an average of 48.5 with two half-centuries. Twelve wickets at a strike rate of 15.8. Chris Gayle is no longer just a terrifying opening batsman, he now seems to be graduating into a genuine all-rounder, in the One-Day version of the game at least.

“I had a pretty good series with the bat and ball against New Zealand and that’s a big boost. I’m happy with that but at the same time I wanted to get a bigger score but I can’t complain, the team did well overall and I’m happy for that,” the tall, fast-bowler-like batsman said.

This is a welcomed return to form for him after a disappointing Indian Test series. “Basically I didn’t get the runs that I wanted against India. I fell short in most of my innings. I really wanted to come out with at least two centuries, but I fell short,” the pugnacious Jamaican opener explained.

The two Tests against New Zealand come up next, those two centuries are not altogether impossible. In thick Jamaican accent he says it best himself, “You’re gonna have days when nothing is going to happen for you so when things are going your way you have to try and make good use of it.”

“Things are going my way now and I want to take it into the Tests against New Zealand,” Gayle says of his expectations. “It’s a different form of cricket, I’ve got to really concentrate, bat for a long period of time and go out there in the middle and get the job done.”

Things are going his way but as it is right now the job is only half done. He will have to continue on.

(EDITOR’S NOTE: The article above was written before the start of the first Cable & Wireless Test between West Indies and New Zealand in Bridgetown, Barbados)