Gibbs shrugs off racial tag

By Richard Boock

A coloured player is proving his worth to the Proteas despite a race-based selection policy, reports Richard Boock

For someone who is not meant to be one or the other, Herschelle Herman Gibbs has adopted a fairly black-and-white view of South Africa's latest cricket controversy.

The 25-year-old opening batsman could walk into many test teams, yet is destined always to carry the stigma of being a coloured player in South Africa's era of "positive affirmation."

This does not sit easily with one of the most gifted, all-round sportsman in the republic if reports in a particular South African magazine are anything to go by.

"Quite honestly, I don't give a damn about all this racial s***," he said. "I'm a cricketer and I hope people see that."

Nicknamed "Scooter" by his Western Province team-mates because he was only 16 and too young to drive when first selected, Gibbs was unwittingly caught up in the race-based selection philosophy during the West Indies' tour of South Africa this summer, and is destined to remain in the spotlight for a few years to come.

Particularly, it seems, with regard to the Proteas' one-day side. As distasteful as it sounds, he is the only "player of colour" shaping up as a front-liner for the World Cup, which could leave the selectors facing a dilemma.

On the off-chance Gibbs was to run out of form or suffer an injury, the South African selectors - if the new policy of always including at least one non-white cricketer were to be applied without exception - could be forced to pick a player for reasons other than merit.

Gibbs has already had to endure allegations that he was chosen for the second test against the West Indies on that basis, with Pretoria News cricket writer Trevor Chesterfield suggesting at the time that he was South Africa's first product of the affirmative action policy.

Since then, the young man who represented South African schools at rugby, cricket and soccer has gone a long way towards scotching that rumour, although he will be anxious to quickly improve his test record.

Stylish and technically sound, Gibbs plays classically straight off the front and back foot, and his athleticism makes him a constant danger in the field. Although his highest test score (from 21 innings) is 54, his century in the fourth one-dayer at Port Elizabeth has highlighted both his class and his worth to the Proteas.

His double of 57 and 85 against Northern Districts in Hamilton this week suggests he will start today's first Bank of New Zealand test at Eden Park in good touch, and South African coach Bob Woolmer believes it is only a matter of time before he starts posting seriously high scores.

"Herschelle's very talented," Woolmer said. "He's threatened to go big on several occasions and I personally feel that when he does get his first 100, the floodgates will open.

"Talent-wise there's no question about his ability, but it's true that he hasn't converted [useful scores into big scores] enough at international level."

Gibbs, who spent three days living and training with Laurie Mains' All Blacks in 1992, said he had never been a natural opening batsman, and had to work hard on the low-risk disciplines involved.

"I'm still finding my feet as an opener. I obviously want to get past 50 more often in tests, and score a century as well. I always thought I would get one in tests before I got one in ODIs but it didn't work out like that.

"Technically, I wouldn't say I'm an ideal opener. I probably play too many shots, and need to leave the ball more. But I've learned that you can still do that in a positive way, and I'm pretty happy with my form right now."

Caption: Herschelle Gibbs does not like being lumped under the affirmative action selection policy. "I'm a cricketer and I hope people see that." PICTURE / FOTOPRESS