Herschelle Gibbs is rocking the boat and that is an understatement. In his autobiographical book, "To The Point", the South African cricketer narrates several sensational anecdotes as well as drawing some conclusions of his own.
Herschelle Gibbs is perhaps leaving his most lasting impression through his book. Here are a few excerpts from his controversial “To The Point”:
Speaking of being offered a Bollywood movie:
A totally unexpected surprise came my way recently when I was offered a role in a Bollywood movie that will start filming at the end of May 2011. I'm not sure what the part is or what I'm supposed to do, but my agent has told me it's very good money for only a day's work.
On Rahul Dravid in the IPL:
He tried to play a little paddle against Harmeet Singh and got bowled. In a normal game he would never have tried that shot at that time. There was panic written all over it. I mean, here was a guy who had played in numerous high-pressure games. He was usually as unflappable as one got, but in this final, at a crucial time for the Royal Challengers, he played a ridiculous shot to get out.
But perhaps it was his take on the happenings in South African cricket that brought out the worst reactions. Read on.
The team has been criticised for being run by a group of senior players - Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher, and more recently, A B de Villiers. This inner circle splits the team in two and makes any chance of developing true team spirit among the Proteas impossible. Simply put, without Graeme's backing, he ( Mickey Arthur ) didn't have much influence over the guys. In the end, Graeme was simply too powerful.
On life in South African cricket post Hansie Cronje and the match fixing scandal of 2000:
Things were never the same. I sympathised with Shaun Pollock (who took over from Cronje). He had a tough time filling Hansie's shoes and gluing the team together. But the Proteas never had that same togetherness under Polly (Pollock). He never socialised with boys too much.
(Despite) the cloud that hangs over his legacy, I can tell you that I've never played with anyone who possessed such a die-hard attitude to winning.
Of his own personal life that included a bitter divorce from Tanielle and alcohol abuse:
As explosive as my batting can be, it hasn't quite matched the pyrotechnics of my life off the field.
He goes on to describe in lurid detail episodes of group sex between South African team mates and girls on tours, smoking weed on the tour of the West Indies and sexual escapades that perhaps make him an anti-hero, particularly where he accuses his former girlfriend, Liesl Fueller, becoming pregnant to “trap him”.
Of wild days and women:
It was one fat party. From mid-evening to the next afternoon. I enjoyed the company of … let’s say, more than one woman.
The girls were really up for it ... You picked a girl up, (in the hotel’s bar) took her upstairs to your room and afterwards both of you would go back downstairs and you’d go and chat to someone else. It was a phenomenal night.
It was like going shopping. From the first day women were almost falling into our laps virtually every night. Australian women, I can tell you, are not afraid to speak their minds and make it crystal-clear what they’re after. They came hunting, often in packs, and if they liked what they saw, you were in for the ride of your life.
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