Chris Gayle warns Andrew Strauss to 'stay out of his business' over late IPL return• West Indies captain 'wouldn't be so sad' if Test cricket died
• Gayle wants to stand down as skipper and targets successor
Chris Gayle, who was criticised by Andrew Strauss for arriving just two days before the first Test from the IPL in South Africa, has hit back at the England captain and said that he would not be sad if Test cricket died out. In an interview with the Guardian, Gayle also said that he wants to step down from the West Indies captaincy, a role he has occupied since November 2007.
Gayle has been under intense pressure to justify his IPL commitments and improve the form of his side before the second Test, which starts tomorrow. West Indies lost the first Test by 10 wickets after following on, the captain making 28 and a duck in his two innings.
Before the game Strauss had been dismissive of Gayle's late arrival, saying: "There's a line there. Certainly we wouldn't want our players to arrive two days before. The important thing is that Test cricket gets the attention it deserves. And that means that people prepare themselves properly for any Test match you play. You don't want Test cricket to be devalued in any way, shape or form."
Today the West Indies captain responded, warning his opposite number to "stay out of people's business" and suggesting Strauss had gone too far. "Doesn't concern him," Gayle said. "Focus on his team, don't worry about West Indies, don't worry about me. Tell him don't sleep with Chris on his mind, tell him get Chris off his mind."
Strauss, he said, should be the one to be worrying about the potential demise of Test cricket because he would have difficulty adapting to shorter forms of the game. "I wouldn't be so sad," said Gayle. "Some other players would be. Maybe Andrew Strauss would be sad. Maybe he will be sad if Test cricket dies and Twenty20 comes in. Because there is no way he can make the change. So tough luck.
"I like Twenty20 since it come about now. I like it. Who doesn't? Maybe a couple of the Englishmen wouldn't like to play Twenty20."
Gayle is less enthused about captaining West Indies. "To be honest with you there's a possibility I might give it up – I will be giving it up shortly," he said. "It's definitely not something I'm looking to hang on to. I need some time for myself, to be honest with you, it's a lot of travelling. There's always something you have to go and do, you know, extra. Lunch or dinner, some other thing, there's always something for the captain. I'm not that type of person. I can't take on too much things. So soon I will be handing over this captaincy. I soon finish with it."
The job has been filled by a succession of reluctant occupants in recent years – Shivnarine Chanderpaul was forced into accepting the role after a sponsorship row ruled out nine players in 2005, Ramnaresh Sarwan took over in 2007 but was troubled by injury, and eventually Gayle was persuaded. Now, he says, he is turning his mind to potential successors. "We're still looking at quite a few," said Gayle. "So we just have to wait and see when the selectors decide – or whosoever decide. Then I'm ready. The chairman pointed out to me they want me to actually be the captain for right now. We have to see how it goes. I said, 'Don't be too long, though'."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2009/may/12/chris-gayle-andrew-strauss-cricket