Shannon Gabriel won’t shy away from a little banter

Should he get an opportunity to play during the three-Test series against England, West Indies pacer Shannon Gabriel said he wouldn’t stop himself from having “a little personal banter” with the opposition batsmen.

The veteran pacer also dismissed his previous altercation with England skipper Joe Root by saying that his comments during the third Test in St Lucia last year were blown out of proportion. Gabriel received a four-match ban after he asked Root “do you like boys?” Root replied: “There’s nothing wrong with being gay.”

Gabriel, who’s part of the group of reserves in the West Indies team, put the incident behind him. “I don’t really think about that too much, don’t want to harp on about it,” he said on Thursday (June 18). “The way they dealt with it was blown way out of proportion. I just want to move on. No hard feelings, I’ve come here to play cricket, whether it’s Joe Root or Ben Stokes or whoever, I’m going to do to the best of my ability to try to get them out, not like targeting one player,” he said.

Ahead of their Test series, which begins on July 8 at Ageas Bowl, West Indies are quarantining and training at Old Trafford which is the venue for the second and the third Test. With spectators not allowed at the venues in what will be a bio-secure series, might result in the players being more wary of what they say on the field. Gabriel, though, insisted that the on-field mentality of the players will not change much despite the special circumstances in which the series will be played.

“You can’t get away from a little personal banter as long as it stays within the rules of the game and it’s not disrespectful. I don’t think much will change,” he said. “When you step on the field you are playing for your country and if you are not going out there to give 100 percent, I don’t think you should be out there.”

Gabriel, who’s on a comeback trail from an ankle surgery and not part of the main squad, may not feature in the Tests with plenty of pace-bowling resources available for West Indies. The 31-year-old, however, believes he has a lot to offer to the team even if he’s not playing.

“There are a lot of young fast bowlers coming through which is exciting for West Indies cricket. So rather than just get myself prepared, I’m trying to lend any knowledge and experience onto them that they can take into their game, said Gabriel, who added that he still has some work to do in order to reach full fitness. “The ankle is good at the moment, no pain, no aches. I’m about 85-90 percent fit, but in terms of bowling fitness and match readiness, I still have some more work to do to hit my rhythm, but there are still three weeks and two warm-up games before the first Test match.

“Of course, I came to England to give myself the best opportunity to play a Test match, but there’s a lot of fast bowlers here, which is exciting,” he added. “I’ve been looking after them for the first week basically, then trying to get back my fitness, and after that it’s up to the selectors and the coaching staff,” said Gabriel.