I am not an alcoholic and if I am, then so are most of the cricketers I have played with,” writes Herschelle Gibbs in this book. Cricketers? Alcohol? Something’s not right here, isn’t it? After all, unlike footballers, we are led to believe that cricketers lead a “simple” life and are saints off the pitch. Andrew Symonds and Andrew Flintoff are probably exceptions to the rule. After reading Gibbs’ book, you feel that footballers may be the saints.
It’s often said books by cricketers are boring, enjoyed only by their fans. Gibbs pours water — or rather alcohol, lots of it — on that notion with his book.
Co-written by Steve Smith, a former editor of Sports Illustrated magazine, To The Point is as candid a cricketing book as you will find. The book doesn’t follow any chronological order and you don’t get to know much about Gibbs’ childhood or early struggles. The writing style is casual; you get the impression that Gibbs chatted with a friend who took notes and decided to write a book.
For someone whose dream was to play football for Manchester United and was picked by his state rugby team, cricket was actually a third career alternative. Gibbs started playing for Western Province in the early 90s and broke into the South African team in 1996 under Hansie Cronje. Gibbs was a flamboyant opening batsman for South Africa who rarely held back on the field. He adopts the same technique with his book as well.
He admits to the love for lucre and how he wanted flashy cars, clothes and the good things in life. There is one whole chapter dedicated to his binge sessions with his teammates and how he “scored” off the pitch as well. “I could couch this chapter in a whole bunch of safe-sounding euphemisms, but given the book’s title, I’ll get straight to the point, shall I? Two words: ‘women’ and ‘booze’.” No surprise, then, that he ended up in alcohol rehab and had a messy divorce.
The night before he scored that magnificent 175 against Australia in the record 438-run chase, he got drunk and barely made it for the match. Strangely, there’s little about that innings. Instead, there are details of how much he drank before and after the match. If you are looking to find how South Africa managed to chase the total down or the strategy the team adopted, you’ll be disappointed. In fact, with every cricketing episode, there is a story of how Gibbs went on a binge session or hooked up with a girl. He actually writes, “As far as women are concerned, the Proteas’ tour to Australia from December 1997 to January 1998 was like going shopping.”
In one chapter, Gibbs decides to pen down the most memorable events of his cricket career. The 1999 World Cup, the “438 game”, his first Test century and a few other things. To be fair to Gibbs, he didn’t have that glittering a career to talk about. 90 Tests, 245 ODIs and 15,000 runs might tell a different story but the reality is Gibbs was never considered among the top cricketers of the last decade. Blessed with tremendous ability, he never made the most of his talent. He is honest enough to admit that but says he has no regrets.
One of the reasons Gibbs first made headlines was the Cronjegate match-fixing saga. He admits to being in awe of Cronje and thought the world of him. When Cronje approached him to score below 20 in a match against India, Gibbs’ response was “Okay, cool”. But then at the last minute, he developed cold feet and backed off. He admits the fear of being arrested by the Delhi police played a lot on his mind and he avoided coming to India for the longest time. But in 2005, he decided to tackle the situation and make himself available for questioning by the Delhi police. Much to his surprise, K K Paul, the then police commissioner, greeted him by saying, “Hello, Mr Gibbs, I am a big fan of yours!” At one point, the police tried to intimidate him and told him, “Sir, you better come clean, we still have the death penalty here.”
The most interesting and no-holds-barred cricket chapter of the book is actually the one where Gibbs talks about South African cricket. Here, he plays on the front foot and, to use a cricketing cliché, plays each ball on its merit. South Africa have been labelled the perennial chokers of international cricket. The 1999 World Cup is a testimony to that allegation, yet they have always denied it. But Gibbs admits that the team had brilliant players but mentally they weren’t tough enough. He says how under Graeme Smith the team was run by a clique of senior players, including Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher and A B De Villiers.
There’s no doubt that Gibbs will draw a lot of controversy and it’s no surprise that Cricket South Africa cancelled his contract. He will play for the Deccan Chargers in the fourth edition of the IPL. Speaking of the IPL, as you read the book you do find it a bit strange that while Gibbs is candid about parties, women and booze in his international career, there’s not even a single mention of any of those things around the tournament. If you are looking for a cricket book, To the Point is not for you. If you want to know about the life of a modern-day cricketer, the book lives up to its name.
TO THE POINT
Hershcelle Gibbs
Harper Collins
264 pages; Rs 599