Sex, drugs and Gibbs

Flamboyant Proteas opening batsman Herschelle Gibbs raised more than a few eyebrows when the Sunday Times previewed his new book To the Point, co-penned by former Sports Illustrated editor Steve Smith, in its front page lead article yesterday.

Saucy revelations about group sex and a cricket tour to Australia in 1997/98 where girls were very much on the menu (including an eager teenage girl dressed up for a matric dance), alcohol and drug abuse and violent fights with wife Tenielle are all on the menu.

“They came hunting, often in packs, and if they liked what they saw, you were in for the ride of your life,” Gibbs wrote about that infamous tour.

Now it seems the Proteas cricket team is not too chuffed with Gibbs’s cavalier freedom of expression. Sport24 reported that the Proteas have denied his account of sexual promiscuity, alcohol abuse and divisions within the South African cricket set-up.

“The players are very disappointed about the allegations because Herschelle is an excellent player and should rather be remembered for what he did on the field,” said team manager Mohammad Moosajee.

“He has not been a regular member of the team over the past two years and is therefore not in a position to comment on the team spirit. –  Ridge Correspondent/Reporting by Eduan Roos and Altus Momberg/Sport 24

Proteas disappointed at Gibbs revelations

Herschelle Gibbs career stats: (cricinfo.com)

Test match career:90 matches; 6 167 runs; average 41.9 runs; 94 catches

ODI career: 248 matches; 8 094 runs; average 36.13 runs; 108 catches

T20 internationals: 23 matches; 400 runs;  average 18.18 runs; strike rate 125; 8 catches

Test debut: November 1996, v India at Kolkata

ODI debut: October 1996 v Kenya at Nairobi