Suspended sentence hangs over Gibbs

Whatever the findings or recommendations of the King commission of inquiry, Herschelle Gibbs may still have to serve a ban from international cricket before he again becomes available for the national team.

In April Gibbs was found guilty of bringing the game into disrepute after being spotted in a night club in the early hours of the morning the night before a one-day international against Australia.

He was fined R15 000 and banned for three games, with R10 000 of the fine and the ban suspended for a year on condition he was not found guilty of a similar offence during that period.

Even if the King commission takes a lenient view of Gibbs' involvement in the match-fixing scandal, it is difficult to believe that by accepting Hansie Cronje's offer to give his wicket away cheaply for a sum of money he did not again bring the game into disrepute.

Justice Edwin King's interirm report will be handed over to the Departments of Sport and Justice on Friday at 10am. According to commission secretary John Bacon, it could take "between two to three weeks" before the report is made public.

In anticipation of the report's findings, the United Cricket Board has named a three-man disciplinary committee which will consider what punishments, if any, should be imposed on players such as Gibbs, Henry Williams and Pieter Strydom.

The committee will consist of former Judge Mervyn King, Michael Kuper SC and attorney Jake Moloi, the co-chairperson of the Law Society of South Africa.