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Australian captain Ricky Ponting - Source: Photosport -
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West Indian captain Chris Gayle has found an unlikely ally in the shape of his next Test match opponent.
Australian captain Ricky Ponting said he could understand where Gayle was coming from in his prolonged stand against West Indies Cricket's administrators - and in some of his comments attacking the primacy of Test cricket.
Gayle caused a storm earlier this year when he said he wouldn't be sad if Test cricket died and Twenty20 took its place as the game's premier format.
"I wouldn't be so sad. Some other players would be," Gayle told The Guardian.
"Maybe Andrew Strauss would be sad. Maybe he will be sad if Test cricket dies and Twenty20 comes in. Because there is no way he can make the change. So tough luck.
"I have liked Twenty20 since it came in. I like it. Who doesn't? Maybe a couple of the Englishmen wouldn't like to play Twenty20."
However Ponting said on Wednesday that Gayle had been speaking as an agitated Test captain in conflict with his board, as demonstrated by subsequent strike action that was only resolved in the lead-up to the West Indies' forthcoming Australian tour.
As such, Ponting was not surprised to see Gayle re-appointed, despite a clamour for popular Trinidad and Tobago skipper Daren Ganga.
"I expected (Gayle) would be captain of their side," Ponting said.
"I know he's had some issues with their board, as a lot of their players have, and said some things about Test cricket last year as well.
"But when you look at the reasoning behind some of the things he would've had to say, you can understand it as far as a player's point of view goes.
"Especially the West Indian players at that stage - it didn't look as though they were being paid from their home board, were paying for going on overseas tours, which is a lot of the reasons why they had the strike they had.
"So you can understand some of the things he said, but I've always expected he'd be captain."
The first Test against the West Indies is in Brisbane from November 26.
