“To see your eyes for the first time is nice,” he said, responding to a question about his batting style. “Hopefully we can have a drink afterwards. Don’t blush, baby.”

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The Big Bash League, the cricket tournament where the interview happened, released a statement saying Gayle’s comments were “inappropriate.”

“I heard Chris’ comments and they’re disrespectful and simply inappropriate. We’ll certainly be talking to him and the Renegades about it. This league is all about its appeal to kids, families and females. There’s just no place in the BBL — or, for that matter, cricket anywhere — for that sort of behavior.”

Gayle plays for the Melbourne Renegades and their chief executive, Stuart Coventry, agreed with the BBL’s criticism.

“I heard Chris’ comments and we agree with both Cricket Australia and Channel 10 that they’re disrespectful and simply inappropriate,” Coventry said, via Cricket.com. “We’ll certainly be talking to him in association with Cricket Australia about it.”

During the match, after the interview happened, Channel 10’s Mark Howard said on-air that Gayle is an “entertainer and a joker, but he probably went a bit too far” with his comments.

UPDATE: Gayle said Tuesday he was sorry if McLaughlin was offended.

“There wasn’t anything meant to be disrespectful or offensive to Mel. If she felt that way, I’m really sorry for that,” Gayle told reporters in Melbourne. “It seemed to be blown out of proportion. There wasn’t any harm meant in that particular way … it was a simple joke.

“I didn’t get a chance (to apologize). I tried to reach out to her (on Monday night) but it didn’t happen.”

UPDATE: Gayle was fined $10,000 for his comments, per Yahoo.

“Chris’ comments were completely inappropriate and disrespectful. There is simply no place for these type of comments at the Melbourne Renegades,” Melbourne Renegades CEO Stuart Conventry said in a statement Tuesday. “The club would like to extend a formal apology to Mel McLaughlin. Mel is an outstanding sports presenter. We think of her very highly and the club and players will ensure we work with her in a professional and respectful manner in future.

“We’ve had several discussions with Chris over the past day and he has acknowledged that his comments were out of line. We would also like to formally apologise to our members, supporters and the wider public for offence caused. The club is based on values of respect towards every member of the community.”