Melbourne : West Indies controversial batsman Chris Gayle will not be prevented from playing in the Big Bash Twenty20 league next season, Cricket Australia chief James Sutherland has said.
Earlier this year, the 36-year-old explosive southpaw had stirred a controversy following his infamous ‘Don’t blush baby’ boundary-line interview with a female television reporter. He was later fined USD 10,000 for his inappropriate comments.
However, Sutherland seemed to have back-tracked after CA strongly condemned the actions of the Melbourne Renegades batsman and that it would come over the top of any team that tried to sign Gayle for the sixth edition of the lucrative tournament.
“No matter what anyone at Cricket Australia thought [of the incident] at management level, board level, I think you’re on a slippery slope if you start making judgements on players who could or shouldn’t be playing in the Big Bash League or in our domestic competitions,” Sutherland was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au.
“Because, when does that ever end? My view is unless there’s a very, very strong reason along the lines of anti-corruption, then its difficult for us to be making those judgements,” he added.
Gayle, who is currently playing for Royal Bangalore Challengers in the Indian Premier League, was the leading scorer for Renegades with 260 runs in eight games. (ANI)