The eerie similarity between Chris Gayle and Shahid Afridi

‘Trying to catch lightning in a bottle’ is the saying that instantly comes to my mind when the names – Chris Gayle and Shahid Afridi come up in conversation. Both being true blessings of cricketing nature in their free spirited inspirational ways, but so impossible to trap within confines of the many disciplines that are needed.

They so polarize the thoughts of fans too from the old fuddyduddys like me who despise them because I see them as being mercenary Prima Donas; then others, who would beg, borrow and steal to view them and pay homage, in the knowledge that they are the master showmen in this the age of flash that so propels the game commercially. Just think of how apt the moniker of BOOM BOOM is for Afridi with his cavalier never out of the game mannerisms. Whether it is his fielding, bowling or smashing the ball into neighboring postcodes with his power hitting.

Ask yourself is there a more associated image in the game as Afridi arms raised in the air with his team mates rushing to celebrate with him?

Look in the same dazzling mirror and you will see Chris Gayle being a BOOM BOOM clone for the sincere showman he is.

He is the top gun for hire of every T20 franchise because of his brutal hitting that leaves all in complete awe and guarantees bums on seats in stacked Stadiums to watch him play. His hitting is unparalleled in its daring and sheer levels of massacre. If cricket balls had unions they would be demonstrating against Chris Gayle for his litany of abuses!

All this previous homage paid to their might in the slap and giggle forms of the game only tells part of their tales. Granted, they are at the top of the tree in these forms of the game, but the true worth of both is seen in their ‘meaning’. A ‘meaning’ that reaches out to all in their Nations from the big wigs in administration counting their riches, the team mates on the field who rise to their aura, and the fans who find joy in their days from immersing in their deeds.

Two of the three have stood true to both, but the Administrators have so failed in handling both,that everyone else paying. They have tried to rule them which for free spirits means conflict and fracture in the relationship when greater sense was seen in managing them .Thankfully, the Pakistani prodigal son in Shahid Afridi has been welcomed back into the fold after a self imposed retirement in response to bitterness against the powers that be; embracing and restoring the ‘Spiritual Leader’ of the Team and the fans.

Ernest Hilaire

As Caribbean Cricket lurches from bad to worse to beyond redemption, it becomes remarked on for the Soap Opera like feud between Chris Gayle and the West Indies Cricket Board, which resembles an over bearing parent at loggerheads with a disobedient child- neither completely wrong or right, but the feud pissing off all around them. It has come to the point where the choice of who is right or wrong is no longer relevant with the only thing that matters is to get Gayle back into the fold.

Empty Stands due to disenfranchised fans through their hatred of the actions of the WICB depriving them of their stars makes this imperative. Reality for this is seen in both embracing the catch cry of Cricket in the region seen in the anthem ‘Rally Around The West Indies’ led by the people at loggerheads burying the hatchet for the good of all. Most notably Ernest Hilaire and Chris Gayle, who both need to sit down listen to that anthem and put their egos aside.

This lead needs to come from the man who is seen as the wrecking ball of West Indies Cricket in Hilaire. A sincerely intelligent man that is so ignorant in people skills as seen in his handling of Gayle.About the approach of the WICB to Gayle, it would seem that they want to control this being, this larger than life man who dances like a freight train when he gets a wicket. Would it not be a better idea to have this man on your side, and unleash him against your competition on the field, like the “Gayle storm” that ravaged the IPL?

Makes remarkable sense that quote to the point that it leaves you sincerely confused as to why Ernest Hilaire and the rest of his cronies cannot see this.Let us hope that they make decisions with great foresight in the near future or ideally yesterday would have been perfect timing. For further sitting on hands seething over egos will result in only one thing : RIP- West Indies Cricket.