Sexism row in BBL: Chris Gayle hits back heavily at criticisers, says it was just for ‘little fun’

New Delhi: West Indian cricketer Chris Gayle hit back hard on cricketers who tried to bog him down after his controversial statements during a Big Bash League interview with Channel 10’s presenter Mel McLaughlin.

In an extract published in The Times, Gayle first tried to clarify his stance over the incident.

“Now T20 is different. It’s not Test cricket. It’s chilled and fun and let’s do things different. So when Mel asks me that question I stay in the T20 mind, and answer informal and fun. I meant it as a joke. I meant it as a little fun. I didn’t mean to be disrespectful and I didn’t mean it to be taken serious,” Gayle wrote.

Gayle, 36, has come back hard on former cricketers like Chris Rogers, Andrew Flintoff and Ian Chappell, who severely criticized the West Indian after the infamous incident.

Rogers stated after the incident : “I was very wary of the role he was setting for the younger guys, and I spoke to them quite a bit about it – ‘do you think this is good behaviour, would you do this kind of thing?’”

The Jamaican had a firm reply for him. “Chris Rogers, how can you claim that when it was you and me at the bar most nights?,” Gayle wrote, “I’m not a snitch, but I’ve heard from your own mouth what you’ve done. Next time you want to open your mouth, maybe chew on a carrot instead.”

In his recently released autobiography 'Six Machine', the big hitter wrote “Ian Chappell, calling for me to be banned worldwide. Ian Chappell, a man who was once convicted of unlawful assault in the West Indies for punching a cricket official. Ian Chappell, how can you ban the Universe Boss? You’d have to ban cricket itself.”

The strongest scold was for former England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff. Gayle said that Freddie’s opinion were apparently not worth.

Following Gayle’s interview with McLaughlin, Flintoff tweeted “Big fan of @henrygayle but made himself look a bit of a chop there.”

“This coming from a man who admitted he took Viagra during a Test match. Freddie Flintstone, a young boy like you taking Viagra? Don’t lecture me. The only chop Freddie knows is when he used to bowl short to me and I would chop him past backward point for four.”