Herschelle Gibbs - An ODI talent wasted?

[milomak]

His stats

                     Mat  Runs  HS   BatAv 100  50   W    BB  BowlAv 5w  Ct St

overall              237  7740 175   36.16  20  36   -   -       -    - 103  0

After seeing his innings today, you think wow this guy has it. Yet I feel he has never lived up to what he could be. I mean he should be a guy with a 45+ average. And in reality, these are his end of days.

 

[kevinswan007]

its not his talent, its in his head. he doesnt have the focus that he should.
ALOT of people rate him one of the best batsman talent wise in the world! but if he cant keep his head in the game for longer than 2 overs, he will never do well.

 

[milomak]

kevin - you are saying what i am saying. except you seem to hope he is still a youngster with your last statement. i predict if he makes another big score in Oz, he finishes his international career with the Aussies in SA.

 

[killadoob]

Rubbish gibbs has lived up to his talent, sure he could have a better average but so could alot of batsmen world wide. Gibbs we all know is awesome and it a very feared batsmen because the opposing team knows if gibbs start middling the ball they are in trouble.

 

[bex.cpt]

His stats

                     Mat  Runs  HS   BatAv 100  50   W    BB  BowlAv 5w  Ct St

overall              237  7740 175   36.16  20  36   -   -       -    - 103  0

After seeing his innings today, you think wow this guy has it. Yet I feel he has never lived up to what he could be. I mean he should be a guy with a 45+ average. And in reality, these are his end of days.

Typical South African way of thinking. Whenever a player or team has a bad day or goes through a bad spell he or they are washed up. Have a little faith. The boy has oodles of talent and the future is bright. YES he has had some issues to deal with and this has distracted him but there is alot in reserve.

THEY WHO CANNOT DO COMPLAIN IN CYBERSPACE

 

[.Froot.]

Rubbish gibbs has lived up to his talent, sure he could have a better average but so could alot of batsmen world wide. Gibbs we all know is awesome and it a very feared batsmen because the opposing team knows if gibbs start middling the ball they are in trouble.

Gibbs is a brilliant batsmen. We've all seen that happen over his career. But the problem comes in with his drinking problem and other social problems he's had. He's let other things influence his batting performance which has been limiting his potential. I think that if he was given a chance to do this all over again and he didn't let everything influence his batting, he would have made something better of himself, not that he isn't a great batsman now.

 

[sox63]

Gibbs is one of those players that will either get a big score or fail. Nothing in between. That is the sort of talent he has, and that is the way SA Coaching staff has always used it. He was COACHED to be the destroyer at the beginning of an innings, thus when he get to post powerplay time when the field is spread, and boundries are not so easy to come by, he somehow invents a way in which to get out.

That is his role in the team, even at provincial level. So you could say, he has never been allowed to develop into a different type of player, IMO.

 

[venom]

Well talent + dumbest person in the world = ordinary

Only an idiot accepts a hansie cronje bribe and then forgets about it while he's playing.

 

[The_Pumpkin_King]

175 in the highest successful ODI run chase! only a rare few can do that.

nuff said.

 

[milomak]

look he is no Afridi. But to be honest the 36 odd average shows that he has a number of innings in which he has not come to the party.

Even Peter Kirsten has a better average than him (fewer games yes)

But my point is that Gibbs having an average og 36 as opposed to 46 shows he has not lived up to his talent. We have not consistently seen him push his talent.

 

[chiskop]

Well talent + dumbest person in the world = ordinary

After a provincial game last year where Gibbs had steered the team to victory, an interviewer asked him if he was moving into a new role in the team, a kind of wise head? Even Gibbs laughed at that.

look he is no Afridi.

Thank god. I'd rather have him hitting the bottle than hitting [-]his teammates[/-] the fans.

Without question I'd put Gibbs in any national 20/20 or ODI team I was selecting. Perhaps that's why I'm not a selector.

It feels wrong that there's no cricket on today.

 

[stefan9]

After a provincial game last year where Gibbs had steered the team to victory, an interviewer asked him if he was moving into a new role in the team, a kind of wise head? Even Gibbs laughed at that.



Thank god. I'd rather have him hitting the bottle than hitting his teammates.

Without question I'd put Gibbs in any national 20/20 or ODI team I was selecting. Perhaps that's why I'm not a selector.

It feels wrong that there's no cricket on today.

Pretty sure it was shoaib and not afridi who hit his team mates.

Gibbs is a waste talent. Should have much more than what he did. But didn't have the maturity or mental capacity to be a true great.

 

[cr@zydude]

I think that Gibbs has done well. He has problems, sure, but he has served SA well. He has a mindset problem though. He was so talented even when he was young. He played SA u16 soccer, and WP u18 rugy and cricket.

 

[Stickfigure]

Well 6 sixes in one over is another thing but I feel that he could have definitely been better but again he has also done well.

 

[chiskop]

Pretty sure it was shoaib and not afridi who hit his team mates.

I thought Afridi was involved in another incident of intra-team violence, but can't find anything. I still would prefer Gibbs in my team.

He was so talented even when he was young. He played SA u16 soccer, and WP u18 rugy and cricket.

He was in the SA Schools teams for cricket, rugby and soccer. AFAIK he played in the WP senior provincial side for a while.

 

[HypoThesis]

When Gibbs comes to the crease I get excited. You know something will happen, whether itz amazing shots or amazing ways of getting out. I look forward to seeing him...and isn't that what sport is about?

I class Gibbs in the same group as Maradona in the world of sportmen. Super naturally talented geniuses who never quite understood how to put a leash on what came with it.

 

[killadoob]

Yup for me gibbs has lived up to his talent, he either scores big or he goes home, exactly what you want in a batsmen that is trying to get the run rate going.

Do you guys want gibbs to be more like kallis in one dayers and gets his 50 not out off 90 delives and destroy our run rate 9 out 10 games? I think not i would rather gibbs goes for 10 trying to get runs.

 

[medicnick83]

Gibbs... Gibbs... Gibbs.

I have so much to say on this 'waste of talent' that I won't even bother - simply because I've discussed him so many times, it's not worth saying more stuff.

 

[SlyFly]

Everyone is talking like the is 28, the guy is 34... It's pretty much the end of his career...

He is brilliant, but he does have a problem with concentration and his form of late hasnt been great, and its not that his form is bad in international cricket, I actually went and watched some Domestic ODI's last year and he was also throwing his wicket away like he just dont care

I think his focus and mentality has been wrong of late, maybe because of that story in Die Huisgenoot

 

[sybawoods]

Arthur has made it clear that he sees Gibbs as having a role to play in the 2011 World Cup. I fully agree with him. Gibbs is a game-breaker in the ODi format. Even if he only fires once in every 3 games, that is sufficient in that format of the game. Gibbs still has some devastating innings to offer us, and we'd be silly to write him off before the world cup. And when he misfires with the bat, he's sure to save us 20-30 runs in the field a la Jonty Rhodes.