Melbourne Renegades mulling over Chris Gayle retention

The coach of the Melbourne Renegades, David Saker has stated that the Melbourne Renegades are mulling over recalling Chris Gayle back into the fold for the upcoming edition of the Big Bash League. Despite his controversial TV interview with Australian journalist Mel McLaughlin, Saker told the media that he was open to re-signing the 36-year old Jamaican.

Chris Gayle was on the receiving end of substantial stick following his ‘don’t blush baby’ remarks directed at McLaughlin that created a major stir in Australian cricket. However, James Sutherland, the Chief Executive of the Australian Cricket Board has stated that he would not prevent the Renegades from re-signing Chris Gayle.

Saker believed Gayle’s behaviour was inappropriate but that it would not be taken into account when he considered the Renegades’ playing list for the 2016-17 BBL season. “That doesn’t enter my mind, I just pick a squad of players,” Saker told Fairfax Media on Wednesday (May 4). “If the hierarchies or people in higher positions than myself come down on that, they do. All I try to do is pick a squad to win.”

“We know it was the wrong thing to do and he probably identified that quite quickly,” Saker added. “We all did. But I think what happened afterwards was a bit of a beat up. We really want women in sport and I think in Australia we’re embracing that quite well. Mel (McLaughlin) does a fantastic job with what she does. We know it was wrong, but a lot of people put their two bobs worth in that probably didn’t need to.”

“To be fair we probably need an overseas bowler, though,” he said. “We’re looking at whether to go down that track or to recruit a bowler from inside Australia. So we’re going through whether we need to re-sign Chris Gayle.”

“We’ve got some really good bowling coaches – Adam Griffith at WA, Mick Lewis here at Victoria, Ashley Noffke at Queensland,” Saker said. “The natural way to go would have been to go with one of those I would have thought. But I understand the appointment of Allan Donald. He’s a very good coach and a very good guy and he adds international experience, but I always like seeing the Australian coaches move through the system.”

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