Chris Gayle spent some time yesterday explaining that, when he said he didn’t want to be captain of the West Indies cricket team any more, what he really meant was that he wanted to be captain still. Silly us. How could we get that wrong?

Still, Tony Cozier himself cut Gayle some slack over the incident, pointing out that Gayle speaks in a no-nonsense (and, I add, no-frills) fashion and sometimes his meaning is not clear. So, if TC is avoiding mashing Gayle’s shooting-from-the-lip corns, I reckon BC ought to, too.

In any case, watching the misery at Chester-le-street so far today, as a West Indian islander, you have to feel sorry for the boys. It was 14 degrees Celsius at Durham today, with a stiff breeze! Don’t mind there were men in Tarzan outfits and women in Las Vegas feathers and beads (very like Trinidad Carnival costumes). They are English and used to it! Our boys had to be wondering how the rahtid they supposed to play cricket in an “air-condition” ground. The TV commentators keep talking about how fast the West Indies are bowling the overs – 30 in each session so far – but they don’t understand them boys want to get off that field and in front of a hot fire fast!