Party costs Gibbs R 5,000.00

A night out on the town on the eve of a the second one-day international against Australia in Cape Town last month earned South African opening bat Herschelle Gibbs a hefty fine, the United Cricket Board announced yesterday.

Gibbs was fined R15 000 and suspended for theee international matches by a UCB disciplinary committee on Friday following newsports that he had been seen in a night club until the early hours. He was found guilty of unbecoming becoming behaviour by the committee.

R10 000 of the fine and the three-match suspension were suspended for one year on condition that he is not found guilty of a similar offence during this period.

The fine comes at a difficult time for Gibbs who is one of four South African players implicated by Indian police in a match-fixing investigation and is expected to be called to give evidence before the King commission into corruption in cricket when it starts hearing witnesses.