Herschelle Herschelle ...
The moral of the story from Herschelle Gibbs' cricketing career is that you can acknowledge having underperformed for money and make racist comments at provocative spectators and still continue to play the game, only getting banned for six months for his first action and two tests for the latter.
I'm not going to question if the ICC's and Cricket South Africa's prompt action was right, given Gibbs directed his observations about the crowd to his teammates and the stump microphones had been turned on during a break, but again, why is the ban a two test ban when what South Africa would have hated more was a four ODI ban? That'd have hurt South Africa (and Gibbs) in the run-up to the World Cup given that South Africa play a further 5 ODIs before they land in the Caribbean.
Labels: 2007 world cup, ban, comments, gibbs, icc, match fixing, racism, south africa, world cup
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You make a really bad point about trying to hurt the South Africans.
When you punish someone, it's not about hurting them, it's about reprimanding them. The bannings etc. should just be consistant (a 2 test / 4 ODI ban every time), and not with malicious intent.
My 2cs worth and counting...
By 
Reenen (17 Jan 2007, 11:55:00 am)
Reenen: First of all, you're probably the first blogger from South Africa who's commented here. Where were you when I asked before the India-South Africa series started "Are there any South Africans/South African cricket fans who read this blog? Are there any South African bloggers who write about cricket? How about bloggers who write about cricket in South Africa?"
Secondly, my comment was meant to be tongue-in-cheek. That said, Darren Lehmann received a five ODI ban for his racist comment directed at the Sri Lankan side (or perhaps an individual in the side). Gibbs has definitely got away with it, again!
By Jagadish (17 Jan 2007, 12:23:00 pm)
I started reading this blog approximately during the 2nd test between India and SA. A month back, about.
I quickly read your post, and yup, I missed that one, must have started reading shortly after that. I blogged about Boje retiring, but I don't generally blog. (Not a lot about cricket)
I apologise for my tone in my first comment. It was not meant as an attack. I just meant to say that I hope that the people who hands out these punishments don't do it with the intent of damaging the player's career.
I hope they just follow the book, and they shouldn't deviate to increase (or decrease) the punishment.
By Reenen (17 Jan 2007, 7:19:00 pm)
I actually replied to this post to say you've gained a new reader. Didn't say I'm from SA though.
By Reenen (17 Jan 2007, 7:27:00 pm)
So, Benaud will announce on his hearing of Gibbs' appeal today.
The third test starts tomorrow. If Gibbs does cop the same 2 test ban, then he won't play tomorrow and possibly against Zimbabwe in June 2007. I'm sure his absence will hurt South Africa in the deciding test starting tomorrow, but would he (or South Africa) care about the Zimbabwe game?
In contrast, if Benaud imposes a 4 ODI (or more) ban on Gibbs, then it will hurt Gibbs and South Africa more. The punishment should be reflect the "crime", but more importantly, it must be proportional to the "crime". Being banned for a test against Zimbabwe doesn't count for sure!
By Jagadish (25 Jan 2007, 11:19:00 am)
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