Gayle: Its a head thing
West Indies opening batsman Chris Gayle says the inability to concentrate for long periods is the bugbear of the region’s Test players.
Gayle, who has enjoyed a successful Test career since his debut as a 20-year-old in 2000, spoke on the subject to the Indian media yesterday in Chennai where he has travelled to support the Tamil Nadu Premier League.
The big Jamaican left-hander who has 7 214 Test runs at an average of 42.18 with 15 centuries, inclusive of two triple tons, and 37 fifties, said during the interview that patience and batting for long periods were not the forte of the players of recent vintage.
“When I look at both formats of the game, I feel we fail to concentrate for longer periods of time [in Tests]. This has been the case since the time I made my debut under Brian Lara. We only play [quality] cricket for short sessions and we win a session here or there. And then, we switch off and that’s why we tend to lose a lot of Test matches.