Cozier: History repeating itself

[BallOil]

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WE'VE all heard the adage but it's still strange how history keeps repeating itself. West Indies cricket is well acquainted with it.

Here is what the Caribbean Cricket Quarterly reported on the West Indies tour of Australia in December 1995. See if you can relate the situation or any of the characters to the present series in Bangladesh.

"He was not there in person but the West Indies could not escape the spectre of Brian Lara as they toured Australia, primarily for the annual Benson & Hedges World Series tournament.

"The controversy over Lara's late refusal to be part of the team overshadowed the reason for the West Indies presence and proved a distraction that severely affected the quality of their cricket.

"They were bombarded with media questions about the affair from the time they set foot on Sydney's Mascot Airport and diminished by the proliferation of words devoted to the unfolding saga."

Now fast forward to Bangladesh 2011 and the similar media attention on the absence of Chris Gayle from the West Indies team. The backgrounds are somewhat different.

After walking out of the contentious tour of England that summer Lara said then that he "could not keep playing cricket under the problems that keep coming up." A few months later, he was back in the team and was subsequently three times the captain.

Gayle is missing because he refuses to apologise for his public criticism of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and coach Ottis Gibson. He is yet to return.

The mayhem over their absence just goes to show that all that matters to those unacquainted with the details, such as Australia in 1995 and Bangladesh now, is that they are being denied the chance of seeing two star attractions of the contemporary game.

[AFRO]

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ BORING!!!, Gayle done now, let the man be a club cricketer while Gibbo and co continue to bring through the youngsters who have WEST INDIES CRICKET AT HEART, full stop.

p.s. and even putting Gayle and Lara in the same sentence is an insult to the great prince, Gayle isn't fit to lace that mans boots.