Herschelle Gibbs
At backward point, he is considered by some to be the next Jonty Rhodes in his ability to hit the stumps, with a report prepared by Cricinfo in late 2005 showing that since the 1999 Cricket World Cup, he had effected the eighth highest number of run-outs in ODI cricket of any fieldsman, with the tenth highest success rate.[1] Gibbs is said to rarely practice in thenets before a match. It is said he prefers to play on instinct in this case.
Gibbs is remembered for dropping a comparatively simple catch off Australia's Steve Waugh during the 1999 World Cup. He became the first player to hit six sixes in one over in One Day International cricket, doing so against the Netherlands in the 2007 Cricket World Cup. On 8 June 2007 he got married in St Kittsto Tennielle Povey, [2]but divorced soon afterwards
Gibbs has scored two double centuries in his Test career, both contrasting innings. His first was an innings of 211 not out against New Zealand at Jade Stadium in 1999. His innings took 468 balls while his second double century, 228 against Pakistan came off just 240 balls. In that innings in Newlands, he reached a national record partnership of 368 with Graeme Smith. He has put on a further two 300-run opening stands with his captain, making them the only pair in Test history to break 300 on three occasions. He also holds the South African second wicket record, a partnership of 315* with Jacques Kallis.
Gibbs famously dropped a catch in a World Cup game against Australia in 1999, when he attempted to throw the ball up into the air in celebration before he had full control of it. The player that he dropped, Steve Waugh, went on to make a century and win the game for Australia, a victory which also gave the Australian side the momentum they required to go on and win the tournament. It was claimed at the time that, immediately after the dropped catch, Waugh had "sledged" Gibbs with the statement, "You've just dropped the World Cup", but, in his autobiography Out of My Comfort Zone, Waugh denies this. Waugh did state, however, that teammate Shane Warne had noticed that Gibbs had developed a habit of throwing the ball in the air prematurely after taking catches and instructed his colleagues not to leave the crease too quickly if they happened to be caught by Gibbs, just in case the situation that happened to Waugh did actually eventuate.
Gibbs is one of only three batsmen in ODI history to score hundreds in three consecutive innings, the others being Zaheer Abbas and Saeed Anwar.[3] On October 3, 2002, in Potchefstroom, his 153 was more than the rest of his team made altogether in a total of 301 for eight against the Bangladeshis, who were beaten decisively. On October 6, in the 2nd ODI of that series, Gibbs had a chance to become the only batsman to score four hundreds in a row. South Africa was set 155 for victory, and Gibbs fell just three runs short, finishing unbeaten on 97. With just six runs needed for victory, he had the strike on 96, but Alok Kapali bowled a legside wide that went for four and made his task almost impossible.[4]
On March 12, 2006, Gibbs played a monumental innings in the 5th ODI against Australia, scoring 175 off just 111 balls leading South Africa to victory.he was batting with Graeme Smith after Boeta Dippenaar got out on 1(3)bowled by Nathan Bracken. This was the highest scoring one-day international match in history and his innings broke several batting records. It was the highest ever score made in an ODI against Australia, beating Robin Smith's effort in 1993. By bringing up his hundred off just 79 balls, he also brought up what was at the time the fastest ever ODI century against Australia. More importantly however, it was the fastest ever hundred by a South African batsman against any opposition, although the record would be broken later in the year by Mark Boucher.[5] It was also the highest ever score by a batsman in South Africa. He scored 126 runs in boundaries, the most ever by a batsman.[6]
In the match against the Netherlands in the group stage of the 2007 Cricket World Cup, Gibbs hit six sixes in an over off the bowling of Daan van Bunge becoming the first player in One Day Internationalhistory to do so.[7] Ravi Shastri and Sir Garfield Sobers had previously achieved this feat in first-class cricket but to date no player has achieved this in Test Cricket. In doing so, he raised US$1 million for the Habitat for Humanity housing projects as part of a contest run by tournament sponsor Johnnie Walker.[8]It is likely that his being awarded citizenship of St Kitts and Nevis was due to this feat.[9] His six hitting form continued throughout the tournament and when he hit Jacob Oram into the stands during a Super Eight match he drew level with Ricky Ponting on 28 for most sixes in World Cup history.[10] He also played for Glamorgan in the 2008 County Twenty20 tournament. He had a very successful time, his highest score being 98 off just 52 balls in a losing game against Northants. Herschelle has signed up again to play for Glamorgan for the 2009 county season. He will replace Mark Cosgrove as their overseas player later in June.He also played for Glamorgan last season where his highest score was 90 off just 10 overs against Northamptonshire.
In April 2008, Herschelle Gibbs was auctioned by and joined the Deccan Chargers of the Indian Premier League. His mediocre performance in 2008 season made the Chargers' management put him on sale. However, he came up with splendid knocks in the second season helping the Deccans Charge ahead with four continuous wins in their first four matches. Of all the openers, Adam Gilchrist and Gibbs have been the most explosive pair. He also played crucial role in the finals by scoring unbeaten 53 (48 balls) in the final when Gilchrist was out for a duck by having no runs on the board. He also took a crucial catch of Mark Boucher at point when the Royal Challengers were cruising to the victory.
In 2001 Gibbs was fined along with several teammates for smoking marijuana during that year's tour of the West Indies.[13]
Most notoriously, Gibbs was involved in the match fixing affair with former captain Hansie Cronje, who offered him $15,000 to score "less than 20" in the 3rd One-day International of a series. He tearfully claimed to the King Commission of inquiry into corruption in South African cricket that he didn't follow through on his side of the bargain, in fact scoring a fine 74. As a result he was banned for only six months. He has since repeatedly refused to tour India fearing arrest and has refused to even speak to Indian Police over the matter. However, Gibbs was named in the South African squad to tour India in the2006 ICC Champions Trophy, and as a result, he had to meet with Indian Police over his involvement in the match-fixing scandal.
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