South African batsman credits Haynes for batting style

Have you noticed a semblance of the West Indian style in Herschelle Gibbs' approach in the Cable & Wireless One-Day series?

The South Africa opening batsman has gone about his business with audacious strokeplay that has been highlighted by the frequency in which he has successfully charged down the pitch to the fast bowlers.

And the results have been rewarding. On Wednesday, he completed his second century of the series and was Desmond Haynes' choice as Man-Of- The-Match. Coincidentally, Haynes, the all-time West Indies' runscorer in the shorter version of the game, played a big part of Gibbs' development when he spent a few domestic seasons in South Africa in the mid-1990s.

I learnt a lot from him when he was playing for Western Province and I really wanted to score a hundred for him, Gibbs said.

Haynes is not the only West Indian Gibbs admires. On a few occasions during the course of this trip to the Caribbean, he and teammate Daryll Cullinan were in regular discussions with Sir Vivian Richards.

They (Richards and Haynes) are legends in the game and any knowledge that they can give us, you can't really put a price on that, Gibbs said.

We obviously want to get better every season and the knowledge they can give us can really help us.

When Haynes was opening the batting for Western Province, Gibbs was still in his early 20s, but he was sure to play close attention.

At one stage I did play with him, but at the same time I was really learning a lot from him as well, he said.

I put all the knowledge and work into it today (Wednesday). I think Dessie can really be proud of the all the knowledge and time that he gave to the Western Province youngsters when he was there.

The way in which Gibbs has repeatedly taken a few steps down the pitch and lifted fast bowlers over their heads has been a joy to watch that's if you are a South African supporter.

Mervyn Dillon, Nixon McLean and Cameron Cuffy might have been embarrassed to look back to see the ball being picked up from over the boundary line on so many occasions early in the innings.

Part of batting in the One-Day game is not to allow a bowler to settle into any sort of length and line, Gibbs reasoned.

It's easy for you to allow a bowler to settle into a length. If he is hitting that length consistently like five out of six balls, it is difficult to get the ball away.

The only other thing to combat that is try to disrupt his length and keep him guessing where he should bowl.

With South Africa holding an unbeatable 4-1 lead in the seven-match series, Gibbs ruled out the suggestion of enjoying a rest for the last two matches.

Last year, I sat out for six months and I don't intend to sit out anymore, he said, in reference to his ban for his involvement in the match-fixing scandal. I'd like to go all the way.

Another major score could make him a contender for the Man-Of-The- Series award, but he appreciates that his captain Shaun Pollock and Jacques Kallis are also in line to grab the Suzuki Grand Vitara.

I think the all-rounders always have the edge over the specialist batter, but we're all fighting for the same goal, Gibbs said.

All three of us are enjoying the tour and it will be great to win Man- Of-The-Series.

The award also takes into consideration performances in the preceding Test series in which Gibbs' 464 runs were the most by any batsman.