Adams

ST GEORGE'S, Grenada (CMC):

Former West Indies captain Jimmy Adams believes it is time fellow countryman Chris Gayle led from the front and hauled his team out of their current slump in the one-day international (ODI) series against Australia.

West Indies lost the second ODI here Friday by 63 runs to trail 2-0 in the five-match Digicel series, after losing the first match on Tuesday by 84 runs.

"It is all well and good that Chris has been asking his players to deliver for him, but I think that it has come a time now where he needs to deliver and lead the team out of the current position," said Adams, a member of the broadcast media covering the series. "He needs to come out and lead by example and that is not happening at the minute."

Failed to spark

Gayle, who has been fighting to overcome a groin injury, has also struggled with the bat in the two matches to date, scoring 20 and 10 as the West Indies batting has failed to spark.

Adams said Gayle and the management team needed to come up with a strategy of moving the team forward and achieving improved results in the remaining matches.

"Sooner, rather than later, Chris and the management team must look at the players and see how they can find ways to pick up the team and get better results," said Adams. "As a captain, when you are not delivering as you want, it can affect the team and Chris would want to correct this pretty quickly."

Carew's comment

Earlier this week, former convener of the West Indies cricket selection panel, Joey Carew, said that Gayle should not be playing for the regional team if he was still injured.

Carew made the comment after witnessing Gayle's performance against Australia in the opening ODI in St. Vincent.

Gayle has not fully recovered from a groin injury he picked up during the series against Sri Lanka in the Caribbean back in April.