Former Australian cricketer Ian Chappell feels Cricket Australia should have sent a zero-tolerance message to Melbourne Renegades opener Chris Gayle and banned him from the Big Bash League for good for his sexist remarks to Channel 10 TV presenter Mel McLaughlin during an interview.
Chappell also said that Gayle should be handed a worldwide ban for his comments.
"I wouldn't have a problem if Cricket Australia said to the clubs, 'he's never to be contracted again in this country'," Chappell told reporters on Friday.
"And I also wouldn't have a problem if Cricket Australia said to the ICC. You'd have to talk to the individual countries then ... but I wouldn't have a problem if it was tabled at an ICC meeting that Cricket Australia said, 'this is what we're doing and we would recommend that everybody else do the same'."
Gayle was only slapped with a fine by the Melbourne Renegades, after he apologised to McLaughlin. Gayle had stated that he meant no harm and it was all in good humour. That excuse did not satisfy Chappell.
"If it was a one-off thing, yeah, slap him with a A$10,000 fine and say 'mate, don't do it again'. But every woman I spoke to [about Gayle] who's working at the cricket, you got the same answer from. They were quite adamant about it," Chappell added.
Gayle ran into further problems this week after he was accused by an Australian woman of exposing himself to her during the ICC World Cup 2015 in Down Under. The Jamaican cricketer denied those claims and has filed a defamation case against Fairfax Media for publishing the report.
According to The Sydney Morning Herald, Gayle is expected to feature for the Melbourne Renegades against Melbourne Stars on Saturday at the Etihad Stadium.
Cameron White, the skipper of the Melbourne Renegades for this match, does not think Gayle should be stopped from playing in the Big Bash League.
"Speaking to him and looking at his body language, I think he's in a good place so hopefully what's happened this week won't affect his cricket too much," White said.
"Yes, why not?," White added when asked if Gayle should be allowed to continue in the BBL. "The Renegades and Cricket Australia have had their say, the incident has happened and Chris has apologised so now it's matter of concentrating on the game tomorrow night and hopefully Chris can play a big part in winning that game."
