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Gayle blows Windies Test preparations off course
Skipper’s outburst damages West Indian morale before the second Test, but England still have much to prove - to themselves and the public
The second Test between England and the West Indies begins in Durham tomorrow with rain forecast for the weekend and the tourists already under a dark cloud thanks to skipper Chris Gayle's less-than-inspiring attitude towards the tour – but it promises to be an intriguing contest.
Gayle, who was forced to leave the IPL early to captain his country for the two-Test series, said in an interview with the Guardian that he did not relish his task as skipper and would soon give it up. The batsman also claimed that he would not miss Test cricket if Twenty20 cricket killed it off.
The president of the West Indies Cricket Board, Julian Hunte, described the comments as "unfortunate" and said they were bound "to have an effect on the whole spirit of the team".
To make matters worse, the Durham public does not seem particularly energised by the delights of Test match cricket either. Even the prospect of watching one of their own, in new discovery Graham Onions – every headline writer's new favourite cricketer – has failed to inspire them and a full house at the Riverside seems unlikely. By Tuesday, only 3,000 tickets had been sold for the first day and fewer than 30,000 seats have been sold for the match as a whole, approximately half of which are for the Saturday.
On the field, England still have some points to prove despite a convincing three-day win in the first Test at Lord's. Of the batsmen, only Ravi Bopara looked the part. Without him and some solid lower order resistance England's fortunes would have been very different.
Likewise with the bowling. Onions took seven wickets on his debut, but did not always seem the threat his figures suggest, Tim Bresnan had a quiet first Test match outing and James Anderson and Stuart Broad are still under pressure to prove that they can cope as the senior bowlers.
As for the Windies, their progress as a Test team could stand or fall on this week's performance. Was their recent resurgence built on Caribbean sand or do they have the mettle to fight back in adversity?
Weather permitting, the second Test should be a fascinating encounter. Should England beat the tourists again, Andrew Strauss' team will move into the rest of the summer, including the highly anticipated Ashes series, with their confidence boosted. ·
