West Indies cricketer Chris Gayle has tried to laugh off the uproar over his outrageously sexist remarks to a female journalist, Charlotte Edwards. Gayle sparked a furore after he asked the scribe how many black men she had slept with, whether she has had a threesome, whether her hair is dyed (while flicking his eyes downwards). His words — “I have a big, big bat, the biggest in the wooooorld… you will need two hands to lift it” — have now become the stuff of lewd legend.

Notwithstanding his big bat, Gayle has been unable to deflect the heavy criticism and instead dubbed the negative reaction as ‘racism’. Never mind that this is the second time Gayle made inappropriate comments to a female reporter. In January, he had propositioned broadcaster Mel McLaughlin live on air in January, asking her if she would like to go out for a drink with him, then adding, “Don’t blush, baby.” He was widely condemned for that incident as well, but clearly, he learned nothing.