Oh, what a wheeze. A quiet practice day before a low-key Test is usually head-scratching time. What to write? And then Chris Gayle pops up with what must be one of the most unorthodox promotional interviews ever given.

Paid by Sky Sports to publicise the second npower Test match at the Riverside, which is in dire need of a lift, Gayle questioned the future of Test cricket, admitted to not wanting the West Indies captaincy and threw a spat with Andrew Strauss, who had criticised his opposite number's late arrival before Lord's, into the mix.

Splendid.

Gayle on the defensive is a rare sight in cricket, but by lunchtime yesterday, hours after the interview appeared in a national newspaper, he was in full-scale retreat. Echoing Michael Vaughan two years ago, after a similar interview, Gayle claimed that he had been “misquoted” and “misrepresented”. There would always be a place for Test cricket, he now felt, and as for the captaincy, well, he had a job to do helping to rebuild West Indies cricket. And Strauss? “I don't keep malice with anybody,” he said.

There will be the temptation in some quarters to squeeze every last ounce of controversy out of this little episode, but that would be distorting. This was an early-morning interview - Gayle is a notoriously late riser - in which some half-baked thoughts were honestly expressed.

He is not the only cricketer to prefer one-day cricket and he certainly will not be alone in future in choosing Twenty20 cricket over Tests. It is an open secret that he would not choose to be captain and if Gayle was irritated by Strauss's criticism of his late arrival before last week's first Test at Lord's, he is far too laid-back to bear a grudge.

Indeed, as the England captain walked into his press conference yesterday - clean-shaven, smiling, polite and pukka - it was hard to imagine anybody falling out with him, ever. An ad man's dream. Clever enough, too, to articulate the kind of defence of the longer form of the game that he knew everyone would want to hear before a Test match.

“I certainly feel that Test cricket is the primary form of the game,” he said, with just the merest hint of pomposity. “The majority of cricketers around the world feel that, certainly all of the players in the England dressing-room think that. I'm concerned for the future of the game and I think that Test cricket should remain the No1 form of the game. It's the only format that tests your temperament, technique, hunger and bravery. It is also far more subtle than one-day cricket and that makes it, for me, a far better game.”

Worthy thoughts these, sincerely held. Strauss and Gayle, though, are chalk and cheddar: the Englishman, foot to the ball and front elbow high, clinging on to national loyalties and a game that has dominated the past; the West Indian, standing and delivering, ready to become a wandering, highly paid mercenary in thrall with a game that will dominate the future.

Indeed, the suspicion remains that Gayle's enthusiasm for the short form of the game is rather more in tune now with a greater number of players and spectators than Strauss might imagine. With only 3,000 tickets pre-sold for today's play, this is a match that has failed to capture the locals' imagination. “Twenty20 has come on board and it's made a huge impact on the world,” said Gayle, sounding like a man who rather wished he was somewhere else. “It's brilliant, games have been sold out and it has taken the place by storm.”

Certainly, he did not sound like a captain who was ready to provide the kind of leadership his obviously demoralised team need right now. And for all the abstract talk of the value of one form of the game over another, ultimately people want - and, especially at the present prices, deserve - to see a proper contest no matter how long it takes. There is no sorrier sight in cricket than watching a team without heart and spine and if West Indies do not show more spirit than they did at Lord's, it will be a surprise if Gayle is allowed to decide for himself how long he carries on as captain.

It is difficult to see how things will turn out differently, though: England are settled, confident, likely to play the same team and hungry for success; West Indies, like their leader, give the distinct impression that holding on to the Wisden Trophy is not high on their list of priorities. Gayle tried to brush off the spat with Strauss by saying that the England captain, with the Ashes looming, “is under a lot of pressure”. Yesterday, there was only one captain who looked under pressure, and it was not Strauss.

England (from): A J Strauss (Middlesex, captain), A N Cook (Essex), R S Bopara (Essex), K P Pietersen (Hampshire), P D Collingwood (Durham), M J Prior (Sussex), S J Broad (Nottinghamshire), T T Bresnan (Yorkshire), G P Swann (Nottinghamshire), J M Anderson (Lancashire), G Onions (Durham), R J Sidebottom (Nottinghamshire), I R Bell (Warwickshire).

West Indies (from): C H Gayle (captain), D S Smith, R R Sarwan, L M P Simmons, S Chanderpaul, B P Nash, D Ramdin, J E Taylor, S J Benn, F H Edwards, L S Baker, D J Sammy.

Umpires: S J Davis (Australia) and A de Silva (Sri Lanka).

Third umpire: P J Hartley

Match referee: A J Pycroft (Zimbabwe).

Television: Live on Sky Sports 1 from 10.30am.