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Gayle just said what the rest of us are thinking.

I was reflecting on this situation today, trying to put myself in Mel's position.

Imagine if an fabulously gay male reporter [Think Adam Richard, or Bob Downe] approached Chris Gayle on the boundary lines and gushed, "Ooo, I just wanted to see you in the flesh, so I could look into your lovely eyes!" "Could we go out for a drink afterwards; don't blush, Baby!"
Do you think Chris Gayle would feel comfortable with the unsolicited, definitely unwanted, attention, that had nothing to do with his cricket? Would he be all like, "Cool Baby"?

I don't think so. I reckon most blokes would feel very uncomfortable if they thought a gay man was genuinely indicating that he wanted to fuck them.

I think Mel handled the immediate situation as best as she could, but now she needs to be careful, post incident, that she doesn't end up being pigeon holed as a "prude".
The media could throw either, or both, of them to the wolves, just to get the ratings.

How bout this Maria Sharapova did the same thing
She basically asked a married male reporter to join her for dinner
And no one gave a shit
Yet a guy does the same thing and all hell breaks loose

No, she didn't ask him to "join her for dinner": Admittedly, she was clearly bowled over by the reporters accent/attitude, but I didn't hear her actually proposition him in any way. At the end she said she was "admiring your form". I guess everyone can interpret it whichever way they want.

I think we should agree to disagree.

at the risk of sounding sexist , I'd love to see a rear view of her in those jeans she's been wearing lately

Perhaps, but a man doesn't get this kind of comment all the time everywhere he goes. A man doesn't have to fight for pay equality nor to be taken seriously in their profession based solely on their gender. A man doesn't have the woman's friends/colleagues laughing about it as she's making the comment to him.

Actually, now that I think about it, that last point indicates that it was anything but a compliment. Gayle's teammates, and (apparently) Gayle himself, thought it would be funny. It was a 'joke', not a compliment, and it was at the woman's expense. To do it in private would be bad enough, but to do it on national TV is a horrible position to put her in. He did it not just once, either, but twice in the same 'interview'.

Gayle apologised, Mel accepted, time to move on.

exactly