Why Gayle is scared of women around him now
SYDNEY: West Indies cricketer Chris Gayle is scared of being around women ever since stories were published saying he exposed himself to a female massage therapist, a Sydney jury has been told.
“He always feels someone is out to get him,” close friend and professional cricket coach Donovan Miller told the New South Wales Supreme Court on Thursday.
Gayle is suing Fairfax Media for defamation, saying it falsely claimed he intentionally exposed his genitals to and indecently propositioned Leanne Russell in the West Indies dressing room during a Sydney training session at the 2015 World Cup.
Matt Collins QC, acting for Fairfax Media, said Russell bravely bared her soul to give raw and honest evidence about Gayle.
She not only repeatedly described the incident but, in the full glare of the national media, revealed she suffers from anorexia, he said.
But Gayle’s barrister, Bruce McClintock SC, said Russell was so troubled by anorexia and so “mentally fragile” that when she went into the dressing room she said she told Gayle she was looking for a towel rather than a sandwich.
Asked about Gayle’s reputation before the articles were published in January 2016, Miller said, “I think everyone loves him” and added he was a big role model to young cricketers. When the exposure claims were first aired “we all thought this was a joke ... not serious”, Miller told the court.
Since then, Gayle had become very reserved “and scared, especially [around] females and he always feels someone is out to get him”.
“You can see the incident has affected him,” Miller said. “When you look in his eyes you can see he is really hurting about it.”