The Talented Mr Gibbs

Ricky Ponting

Age – 34
Tests – 127
Runs – 10,697
Avg – 57.2
Debut – 8/12/1995

ODI – 301
Runs – 11,113
Avg – 43.24
Debut – 15/02/1995

Herschelle Gibbs

Age – 34
Tests – 90
Runs – 6,167
Avg – 41,95
Debut – 27/11/1996

ODI – 234
Runs – 7,635
Avg – 36,18
Debut – 03/10/1996

Two players. Both playing for traditional cricket powerhouses in the ascent towards their prime form. Both widely accepted to be among the most naturally gifted of their generation. Both identified at a very early age as something special. Both made the step-up to Test level while their peers were still carving out first-class careers. Both had been beset by personal issues at the early stages of their careers. Both players widely acknowledged to be worthy of being mentioned amongst the all-time greats. Errr no. Not quite.

For, while no one has ever doubted our man Hersch’s ability with the willow, a cursory glance at his numbers will tell you that not all that ability has been translated into results. While Punter’s stats scream Hall of Fame, Hersch is doodling along in that ugly matrix called brilliant but erratic, along with other frustrating talents such as Chris Gayle, Virender Sehwag and Shahidi “Boom Boom” Afridi. Certainly hidden among those so-so numbers are some incredible innings that only the very best batsmen could have carved out. There are his incredible double-hundreds, showing a calmness of temperament and a focus that many would have doubted existed within him, his many blistering ODI cameos and, of course, that thrilling 175 against Oz in the “438” match.

Funnily, that performance came after Ricky Ponting had put an authoritative stamp on the match with a 164 run knock that would have been dismissed as a freakish fluke had he not actually been in such ridiculously comfortable control while flaying our attack all over Joziburg. Indeed, the inmates at the offshore convict colony called Aus were so confident of victory (and who wouldn’t have with an innings total of 434?) that their morning papers were sent to the presses with editorials paying tribute to their magnificent captain for laying down the law to those cocky “Japies”. Enter Herschelle who, after a slow but steady start with Graeme Smith, turned on the afterburners and never looked back. Everything Ponting had done, he did better, sending an entire nation of 45-million into raptous excitement and delirious relief at the conclusion of the match. One hundred and seventy five runs from 111 deliveries, against the world champions, in a series decider at that. Even writing it, it seems incredible. Here finally was an innings worthy of the man’s talent.

Sadly though, there were never enough, before or since, to lend further testament to his talent. Instead, he’s had longer stays inside tribunal hearings than he does at the crease often times, even once infamously emerging from a hearing with two erm …samples of the national team’s sponsors product having been in there for erm … abuse of said items (ok maybe it was evidence?)

The rap sheet makes for quite some reading: match fixing, missing curfews, run-ins with the law, inhaling the local vegetation in the Caribbean etc. Plus there is the whole soap opera his personal life is becoming in the media. Yessir — cricket’s not been the only thing our boy’s been keeping himself occupied with. In the same period, Ponting has been … erm scoring runs by the bucket-load and setting record after record, his roll call goes on and on; most runs in a calendar year by an Australian, most tons in one year by an Australian etc.

I certainly do not believe that when they started out in the mid-90s Punter was a better player. Or that Australian coaching is superior to South African methods, but the numbers do not lie hey? So what happened? Well — the boy cannot stay out of trouble. It is kind of hard to be a legend in any field/walk of life if you have regular periods where you drop off the radar while suspended for some or other indiscretion. And when you average a suspension every 1.5 years or so, no amount of talent will pull you through. Ponting had the same issues when he started out; drinking and the love of the good life also threatened to halt his career before it got going, yet he (with an admittedly huge boot up the backside from his native land’s administrators) managed to straighten himself out and put that so far behind him, not a single eyebrow was raised when he was made Aussie skipper. Well none outside the Warne household at least.

So why couldn’t we do the same with Hersch? His disciplinary issues should not have caught anyone by surprise. He had a reputation with him already from his representative age-group days. Yet we stand here 14 years later, still not sure what to do about Hersch. But unlike in 1995/6, we don’t have a potentially great career to save, instead the legacy of a nearly-man. One who could have, should have been the next Nourse, Richards or Pollock. One of whom songs and tributes would have been written and appreciated by all manner of wise nodders. Instead, we just want to help him finish on a high.

What lesson can be learnt here? Are our disciplinary measures adequate? Beyond merely suspending/fining a player, do we take any action to go into the root cause of the issue and help him work past his personal demons? Are we doing enough with the youngsters coming through to identify troubled prodigy tendencies and work with them before they develop another notable “gift” — that of sustained self-destruction?

If anything, learning those lessons could be a greater legacy of Hersch’s career than remembering the odd innings where he fulfilled what we all knew he had inside him.

Gibbs the Redeemer; come on, surely it’s possible?