West Indies bowler Shannon Gabriel sorry for asking Joe Root 'do you like boys?'

Banned paceman admits comment directed at England skipper Root was offensive
Sorry, Joe: West Indies bowler Shannon Gabriel and England skipper Joe Root during the Third Test in St Lucia
Action Images via Reuters/Paul Childs
Will Macpherson14 February 2019

West Indies bowler Shannon Gabriel has issued an “unreserved apology” for asking England captain Joe Root “Do you like boys?” — a comment which yesterday saw him suspended by world cricket’s governing body.

Gabriel accepted a charge of an offence under the ICC’s Code of Conduct relating to “personal abuse”, which led to him being banned for four one-day internationals and fined 75 per cent of his match fee after reaching eight demerit points over a four-year period.

Gabriel signed a candid and carefully-worded statement describing the incident as “a learning experience” and an “opportunity for myself and all athletes to recognise the need for sensitivity and respect in their interactions with all”.

Gabriel said the comment was made “in the context of on-the-field rivalry” but “I know now that it was offensive and for that I am deeply sorry”.

Gabriel then went on to tell his side of the story. “The exchange occurred during a tense moment on the field,” he said. “The pressure was on and Joe Root was looking at me intensely as I prepared to bowl, which may have been the usual psychological strategy with which all Test cricketers are familiar.

“I recognise now that I was attempting to break through my own tension when I said to him, ‘Why are you smiling at me? Do you like boys?’ His response, which was picked up by the microphone, was, ‘Don’t use it as an insult. There’s nothing wrong with being gay’. I then responded, ‘I have no issues with that, but you should stop smiling at me’.”

Root and Gabriel were pictured together at the end of the match and the paceman said he was “comforted by the fact that there are no hard feelings between us”. At the conclusion of the Third Test in St Lucia — where male homosexuality remains illegal — Root said “it would be a shame” if the incident tarnished the series.

Relations between the teams were cordial throughout — they met for a post-match drink — and this was the first such incident of the series. It came to light because the TV audience heard Root’s rebuttal, then Sky published it on their social media channels. Root was widely praised but England head coach Trevor Bayliss would prefer to turn down the stump microphones that brought this incident to light. Last month, Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed was banned for four games after mics picked up his use of the Urdu word kaale, meaning black, to describe South Africa’s Andile Phehlukwayo.

'unreserved apology': Shannon Gabriel
Getty Images,

“I’m not in favour of it and I’m not going to change my mind,” said Bayliss. “If stump mics were around a few years ago, there would be some blokes seen as holier than thou who would have been in trouble as well.

“I know there are people who think it is good for the game but sometimes in the heat of battle things are said when guys, given a bit of time to think about it, would give themselves a bit of a kick up the backside.”

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