Here’s a theory: Chris Gayle treats his words the same way he does his cricket bat. That is to say as a blunt weapon, wielded with tremendous force and utter conviction.
Charge from the crease, cock the arms back, swing bloody hard. Repeat.
On the pitch, that’s resulted in an astonishing career. Off it, the same bludgeoning style which created that “don’t blush, baby” saga has resulted in another shock-and-awe display, this time with / against British journo Charlotte Edwardes.
For an in-depth piece for The Times Of London, Edwardes sat down with the bloke. What resulted, honest to God, makes the McLaughlin deal look like a spot of playground teasing.
Edwardes writes “Gayle is his own worst enemy if this evening’s interview is anything to go by.
Before two hours are up, he’s boasting about having “a very, very big bat, the biggest in the wooooorld”, adding, “You think you could lift it? You’d need two hands.”
He asks how many black men I’ve “had”, goading me when I deflect the question, and whether I’ve ever had a “t’eesome” – “I bet you have. Tell me.””
She continues, saying during their conversation, Gayle even made repeated pointed references to the colour of her pubic hair. As in, in the midst of an interview. He asked that.
Edwardes noted “Gayle returns to the subject of McLaughlin repeatedly, like a tongue probing a sore tooth.”
“He’s not upset about it “any more”, he insists. “It was a joke. She knew that. That’s who I am, the joker.”His hand trembles slightly when he reaches for his drink. “If she didn’t like it she could say, ‘Chris, I didn’t appreciate that.’ Simple as that.””
On his openly brazen shit-talking, Gayle claimed he could get away with it if only he were a white athlete.
He said “if that had been a white footballer saying that, nothing would’ve happened. Rugby player, nothing would’ve happened. Hollywood actor? Tsk.”
Later, he elaborated that “I would say this anywhere in the world, in any sporting arena, right now in 2016: racism is still the case for a black man. Trust me.”
While that may be true, drawing attention to your own plight while explicitly harassing another female journo probably isn’t the way to go about it.
Regardless, he obviously thought it was worth a swing.
