Monday, 15th January 2007 at 10:34 pm

The world according to Herschelle

Let’s be honest: Herschelle Gibbs probably isn’t your ideal role model. The litany of misbehaviour that spikes a CV of cricketing success makes Gibbs the definitive bad boy of South African sport, now that James Small has gone quietly into the sunset, and Jabu Mahlangu (formerly Pule) having reined himself in. For every run-a-ball hundred, there’s been a match-fixing scandal; for each breath-taking catch, a late night return to the team hotel with a big game the following day.

But Gibbs the racist? Set aside specifically South African question that, tenuous as the status may be (by his own admission, in an infamous Sports Illustrated interview a few years back), Gibbs is a player of colour, which turns the standard issue of racial abuse in South Africa on its head. Instead, look at a player who may have several weaknesses, but is one of the most easy-going, gregarious sports stars South Africa has.

According to the ICC’s ruling, Gibbs is guilty of racist abuse, picked up by the stump mic (shades of Dean Jones). But the team feel pretty strongly that Gibbs has been hard done by, and that in responding to a group of abusive Pakistani fans in the crowd, Gibbs was guilty of nothing more than responding to human nature, and defending his team-mates, in particular Paul Harris.

So was Gibbs one step away from starting a jihad? Or has political correctness taken another step in the wrong direction? The ICC generally offers a nervous blend of conservatism, hesitancy, and reluctance to offend, and so Gibbs was always likely to get a stiff punishment. But Gibbs the evil racist cricketer? The hat just doesn’t fit.