Was Gayle prepared? Where is Bravo?

Clive Lloyd has added his voice to the number questioning the arrival of Chris Gayle from the Indian Premier League less than two days before the Lord’s Test, and the absence of Dwayne Bravo from the West Indies side visiting England.

Lloyd believes that Gayle’s arrival from the IPL in South Africa last Monday May 4th ahead of the Test which opened on Wednesday May 6th was setting a bad example for the rest of the West Indies players.

The former West Indies captain felt that Gayle’s decision to extend his stay with the Kolkata Knight Riders could hardly have helped him assert himself both as captain and as player.

“I found (Gayle’s late arrival) pretty strange, because as captain you want to be there with your team early,” said Lloyd in a wide-ranging interview with the Cricinfo website.

Gayle made 28 and 0, as West Indies crumbled to a 10-wicket defeat inside three days at the “spiritual” home of the game.

“Coming this early in England, you need to get some games under your belts, get accustomed to the conditions,” he said.

“It’s a matter of getting here early, getting in your nets, working hard at your fielding and your batting. It’s Test cricket – you have to be at your best.

“It’s a Test of your character and your skills. That’s why it’s called a Test match. You’ve got to be on top of your game.”

Gayle, bothered by heavy criticism about his late arrival for the series and the first Test defeat, told the Guardian newspaper Tuesday that he will be giving up the captaincy shortly because of the pressures of the job.

“I will be giving it up shortly,” he said in a story to which West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) president Julian Hunte has reacted with concern.

Hunte said Gayle’s comments two days ahead of the crucial second Test were “unfortunate” and bound “to have an effect on the whole spirit of the team”.

Apart from suffering a batting meltdown, West Indies also floored eight catches in England’s second innings – six alone in the final session on the opening day – and Lloyd feels the visitors’ may have suffered from a lack of proper preparation.

“Catching is important here,” he said. “If it’s cold, and if you’re not accustomed to this, you will drop catches, as they’ve done.

Lloyd also took a swipe at the West Indies authorities for leaving Bravo out of the Test squad because of fitness concerns.

West Indies Cricket Board officials felt that Bravo had not sufficiently recovered from an ankle operation late last year to tackle the rigours of a five-day Test, but they gave him permission to take part in the crash, bang, wallop of the Indian Premier League.

“The point is we have a guy called Bravo, who is still playing in the IPL,” said Lloyd. “He’s one of our best all-rounders.

“Had he been here bowling-wise and catching, he would add a lot to the team. Whenever he plays in our team, our fielding goes up another 15 per cent.

Lloyd continued: “We miss him terribly. There’s no doubt about it. I find that you shouldn’t be choosing [domestic] one-day cricket over your Test match or Test series. Test matches are what we’re known for.

“This guy was probably given permission to stay, I don’t know the whole story, but I would love to see him here.”

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