Chappell Seeks Gayle Cricket Ban

Australian cricket great Ian Chappell has called on Cricket Australia to propose a worldwide contracting ban on Chris Gayle following his controversial sideline interview with sports reporter Mel McLaughlin.

Gayle was fined $10,000 by his Big Bash League (BBL) side Melbourne Renegades for his on-air mid-match comments to McLaughlin on Monday night.

The big-hitting West Indian batsman’s hopes of returning next season could also be all but over, given Cricket Australia (CA) has the power to essentially veto any BBL player contract.

Some CA officials wanted Gayle to be suspended over the interview, during which he told McLaughlin she had beautiful eyes and asked her out for a drink before saying “don’t blush, baby”.

Ex-Australian skipper Chappell said CA needed to send a zero-tolerance message on what he deemed “totally inappropriate” behaviour in a sport trying to gain traction with women.

“I wouldn’t have a problem if Cricket Australia said to the clubs, ‘he’s never to be contracted again in this country’,” Chappell said in Sydney, where he participated in an Optus SMB Cricket Legends event alongside Tom Moody.

“And I also wouldn’t have a problem if Cricket Australia said to the ICC, ‘what we’re doing should be worldwide’.

“You’d have to talk to the individual countries then ... but I wouldn’t have a problem if it was tabled at an ICC meeting that Cricket Australia said, ‘this is what we’re doing and we would recommend that everybody else do the same’.

“How are you going to stop it otherwise?”

Gayle has apologised for any offence, saying it was a “simple joke”.

But Chappell thought he was “past help probably now”, and said the focus should be on sending a message to up-and-coming male cricketers.

“If it was a one-off thing, yeah, slap him with a $10,000 fine and say ‘mate, don’t do it again’,” he said.

“But every woman I spoke to [about Gayle] who’s working at the cricket, you got the same answer from.

“They were quite adamant about it.”

Gayle is expected to open for the Renegades on Saturday, when they host Melbourne Stars at Etihad Stadium.

Related articles

• Badree, Simmons named for Heat BBL debuts
• KFC Big Bash League 2015-16 Schedule | Big Bash League Fixtures 2015-16
• Badree eyes 'great things' with BBL Heat
• Big Bash: Torn side muscle forces Canberra's Nick Winter out of Renegades squad
• Big Bash: Kevin Pietersen to fly back home to attend birth of second child
• Renegades' Ferguson to have knee scans

Gayle Faces Renegades Reprimand

Chris Gayle is likely to be reprimanded after he used a post-match interview to ask out a TV news reporter live on air.

Gayle, 36, had just been dismissed having scored 41 off 15 balls in the Melbourne Renegades’ victory over the Hobart Hurricanes in the Big Bash League when he was approached for comments by the Network Ten journalist Mel McLaughlin.

She began by asking him about his innings but he quickly steered the conversation away from cricket, saying: “I just wanted to have an interview with you as well, that’s why I batted so well.”

He then added: “Your eyes are beautiful, hopefully we can win this game and then we can have a drink after as well. Don’t blush, baby.”

McLaughlin attempted to laugh off the invitation by saying: “I’m not blushing.”

Gayle’s attitude attracted a welter of criticism on Twitter, though Network Ten did not help the situation when it described the West Indian batsman’s approach as “smooth” in a tweet that, according to the Sydney Morning Herald, was then deleted.

Anthony Everard, the head of the Big Bash League, tweeted to say: “I heard Chris’s comments and they’re disrespectful and simply inappropriate. We’ll certainly be talking to him and the Renegades about it. This league is all about it’s appeal to kids, families and females. There’s just no place in the BBL – or for that matter cricket anywhere – for that sort of behaviour.”

The Renegades chief executive, Stuart Coventry, said. “We’ll certainly be talking to him in association with Cricket Australia about it. There’s just no place for that sort of behaviour.”

Network Ten were also criticised for posting a tweet from its Ten Sport account that described Gayle’s comments as “smooth”. 

The tweet was deleted following the criticism.

Related articles

• Chris Gayle plans test return in 2016
• Chris Gayle defends Australia absence but former West Indies skipper plans Test cricket return during 2016
• KFC Big Bash League 2015-16 Points Table | KFC Big Bash Points Table | BBL 5
• Big Bash: Torn side muscle forces Canberra's Nick Winter out of Renegades squad
• Big Bash: Kevin Pietersen to fly back home to attend birth of second child
• Badree eyes 'great things' with BBL Heat