February was just another month in the life of Chris Gayle. A quick scan of his Instagram account reveals a man who partied with Shaggy and Didier Drogba, dined out with Kumar Sangakkara, played golf, relaxed by the pool with cocktails, and wore a T-shirt emblazoned with the words "Cash is king." He even had time to fit in a little cricket in the Pakistan Super League in the UAE. This is the life of the self-proclaimed Universe Boss, and the idealised existence of the freelance T20 cricketer.
But there is a dark side too.
The world over, concern is increasing about the gig economy, in which ever more workers are self-employed, and left economically insecure and vulnerable to exploitation and loneliness. The itinerant T20 cricketer is not immune to these forces.
For all the razzmatazz, traipsing between T20 tournaments can be a lonely existence. "It is much harder than people think because you are on your own to get yourself right," says Samuel Badree, a long-time West Indies team-mate of Gayle's who plays for St Kitts & Nevis Patriots in the Caribbean Premier League, and in other leagues throughout the world. "Plus you have to balance other things like family and work commitments." The unpredictability of freelance T20 life means that Badree balances his cricket career with being a PE teacher. Many other freelancers look to fill the monotony of training by themselves with coaching or media work of the sort that those with national central contracts have no need for.
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