Gibbs: The flawed genius
Judhajit
25-Feb-2013
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Dropped for the ODI series at home to Bangladesh after breaking the team curfew, this may well be the end of the road for Herschelle Gibbs. While the flawed genius does not have age on his side, his Test career is as good as over.
The question must be asked how long is a piece of string and for how long will Cricket South Africa be prepared to tolerate this behaviour. Arthur Turner in Sport24.com believes this type of behaviour and attitude needs to be rooted out of the team.
He needs to be given an ultimatum that if he transgresses again he will play no further part in the national team. The national players’ are role models for the country and earn huge sums of money from the game, he needs to start taking responsibility for his actions.
Gibbs will always be remembered as a cricketing genius, but also as an uncomfortable reminder of the dangers that the fame and fortune of professional sport can bring. Neil Johnson, the former Zimbabawean cricketer, in his column for the Natal Witness says Gibbs' zest for life and the fact that he never wanted to miss out often got him into trouble. But he got away with a lot, because his natural genius would always bale him out on the field irrespective of what was happening off it.
The quota system was another factor that made Herschelle appear almost bullet-proof. If Herschelle were dropped due to disciplinary reasons, there were very few players of colour to replace him and certainly no-one who could match his ability.