Dear Editor,

During the Second Test of the recent West Indies v Australia series the former England captain turned commentator, Tony Greig, said that the “West Indian boys were playing intelligently”. He went on to state, with distinct surprise consistent in his voice, that chief among those who were playing “intelligently” was the Captain Christopher Gayle.

I jotted this comment down as my mind immediately went back to 1976 when Mr Greig made comments to the effect that the West Indies were not as good as everyone thought and that he would make the then all-conquering Caribbean side “grovel”. Of course, Clive Lloyd’s men, with Richards, Marshall and Holding in tow, reacted with aplomb, decimating the English side with clinical intent. 5-0 whitewash. These men had a sense of identity which appeared to be intricate to the results which were yielded.

Contrast that with the reaction of Gayle’s charges, even in the aftermath of curious comments by the said Greig, which I would surmise they did not even notice. Perhaps it reflects a difference in mentality and pride in performance which led Ramnaresh Sarwan to describe a series against the former colonial master as “just another series”. The desired result was not achieved, yet in the face of a 2-0 series defeat to Australia Gayle found solace in the observation “I think we earned a bit of respect”.

Chris might be comfortable in life when a little respect is accrued to his person, but can someone make him know that when representing a whole region, loss plus a little respect are not nearly sufficient.

Abka Fitz-Henley

abkafitzhenley@yahoo.com