Cricket star punished for flirting with TV presenter

A cricket star in Australia has been punished for flirting with a female television presenter on Live TV.

According to ABP Live, West Indies’ star batsman Chris Gayle was fined $7,000 (RM21,800.24) by his Big Bash League team the Melbourne Renegades after asking Ten Network reporter Mel McLaughlin out for a drink during a Live interview.

“Nice, so hopefully we can win this game and we can have a drink after [...] Don’t blush baby,” said the cricketer during the interview.

McLaughlin seemed unimpressed and replied, “I’m not blushing.”

Sexist, sleazy or both? Whatever it is, @Mel_Mclaughlin handles this exchange with Chris Gayle superbly @henrygayle pic.twitter.com/JQyIUiNV3l
— Auskar Surbakti (@AuskarSurbakti) January 4, 2016

Gayle later insisted that was a joke, but cricket officials in Australia were not impressed.

Cricket Australia chief James Sutherland regarded Gayle’s behavior as “not cool” and thought it was “inappropriate for the workplace.”

Gayle has since apologized over the incident, saying that he did not mean to be disrespectful or offensive to the TV personality.

In a separate interview, McLaughlin has accepted Gayle’s apology and wanted to move on.

As reported by Sydney Morning Herald, McLaughlin said the encounter was “a bit disappointing” and she would rather have Gayle talk about the match instead.