Cricket: Picture of innocence

By RICHARD BOOCK

If Herschelle Gibbs can be half as clueless with the bat as he is in his new book, Herschelle - a biography, New Zealand should at least be confident of making an early breakthrough when they play South Africa on Sunday.

The man who was suspended for his role in the Hansie Cronje corruption scandal still refuses to condemn his late skipper, who was killed last year in an air accident.

In his just-published book, Gibbs comes across as being alarmingly naive about the seriousness of his offence, which included an admission that he deliberately underperformed at his captain's behest, in return for a cash payout.

Cronje, banned for life for match-fixing, very nearly took Gibbs down with him, making it all the more surprising that the South African opening batsman remains devoted to his captain - and especially since he was being promised only peanuts in comparison.

But as recently as September last year, Gibbs dedicated a century made against India in the ICC Champions Trophy to Cronje, apparently because it was the late captain's birthday.

"Perhaps he tried to do his own mates," said Gibbs, who added: "Even if he thought like that, for me it was good money anyway."

There was no sign in the book of any discomfort with Cronje; on the contrary, Gibbs was outspoken in his praise of his mate, as demonstrated during the King Commission, convened to examine the allegations of corruption and subsequent evidence.

According to author Colin Bryden, after listening to Cronje giving evidence at the inquiry, Gibbs went to the chambers of Cronje's lawyers.

"I hadn't seen him for a few months," Gibbs said. "He kept on apologising, saying, 'I'm sorry to have dragged you through all this.'

"I said: 'That's fine, don't worry, worse things have happened. It's finished, it's done.' It was just nice to see him."

As for the question of whether he resented his captain's influence, Gibbs leaves no one in any doubt that he respected Cronje enormously, both before and after the corruption bombshell.

"I never held it against him," Gibbs says in his book. "We were like two naughty little kids. It had got us into trouble, but it was over. I had been given my fine and my sentence. I was still going to be playing cricket and he wasn't. There was nothing for me to be unhappy about.

"Obviously my reputation went down a bit, but I could change that by playing good cricket. It was like a six-month holiday for me."

Bryden noted that it was a reply which suggested Gibbs didn't fully appreciate the seriousness of the situation in which he found himself.

He wrote that a few months before Cronje's death, Gibbs and some other players met the former skipper for a drink in Johannesburg, where he had taken a job as a financial adviser with an equipment company, commuting weekly from George.

By coincidence, Gibbs was in George on the weekend that Cronje died, making a personal appearance at the invitation of a company.

"I spoke to him on the phone on the Friday night, so I was probably one of the last people to talk to him. He said he would see me the next day for a cup of Mocca Java."

They never did share the coffee. Later that evening Cronje, who had missed a scheduled flight, climbed aboard a cargo aircraft used for a mail delivery run. On Saturday morning, after an aborted landing because of bad weather, the aircraft crashed into Cradock Peak in the Outeniqua Mountains.

Gibbs's admiration for Cronje has obviously not been affected.

"He was a great person. He had his faults, but I had a lot of respect for him."

Bryden also said that there was widespread agreement among those interviewed for the book, that Cronje's hold over Gibbs was so great that the young batsman would have walked over broken glass to keep him happy.

There was Basil Bey, his school rugby coach, who said it didn't come as a great shock to learn that his former star first five-eighth had been involved in the Cronje affair.

"We all knew Herschelle well enough to know he was going to slip sometime. I don't think there was any evil intent and I don't think he will ever be corrupt. There's a huge honesty about Herschelle."

Then there was Springbok Robbie Fleck, who said he felt "very sorry" for his friend.

"He's the type of guy who believes in people and can be influenced. I don't think he knew the full circumstances of what he was doing."

Surprisingly though, there are some who believe Cronje was harshly treated, and that Gibbs was merely a pawn in the entire game - among them former South African all-rounder Brian McMillan.

In the book, McMillan said the nature of professional sport was such that its participants needed to make as much money as possible while they still could.

"Herschelle was an easy target," he said. "Hansie wielded a lot of authority."

Even Bob Woolmer, who was coach during most of Cronje's captaincy, was apparently ready to forgive and forget, suggesting Cronje was only guilty of challenging players and "testing them out."

Bryden observed that Woolmer's scarcely believable view of the former captain is shared by many, as demonstrated by the lavish tributes and the public outpouring of emotion after he died.

He wrote that it was astonishing that so many people were prepared to ignore the clear evidence and particularly astonishing that Gibbs forgave Cronje so lightly.

Within two months, Gibbs spent a long weekend at Cronje's home at the Fancourt golf estate near George, as he had been invited to play golf at the opening of Sparrebosch, another luxury golf development in nearby Knysna.

The former team-mates played in a celebrity four-ball put together by Garth le Roux, a Springbok fast bowler from the rebel era.

As Bryden noted - in South Africa, notoriety doesn't necessarily diminish one's appeal.