To the point, by Herschelle Gibbs and Steve Smith

To the point, by Herschelle Gibbs and Steve Smith. Zebra Press Random House Struik. Cape Town, South Africa 2014. ISBN 9781770221314 / ISBN 978-1-77022-131-4

Steve Smith, former editor of Sports Illustrated magazin, is co-author of To the point, South African Cricket star Herschelle Gibbs's Biography.

Steve Smith  Herschelle Gibbs  

Herschelle Gibbs: The early days

From school days to a tough start in the senior ranks and fun along the way.

'Today,' he said, 'I am going to kill you.' And there was no reason not to believe him. He was tall and swarthy, with a mean look in his eye. I shat myself. What the hell was I doing here? I was only 16; I had my whole life ahead of me. Things were supposed to be sunny, bright and full of hope. Instead, as I squinted through the gap between the visor and metal guard of my helmet, I could see my killer thundering towards me. Tertius Bosch had a very long run-up, which, while it might have added a few extra seconds to my rapidly diminishing life span, also gave me what seemed like forever to contemplate my fate. Fortunately I managed to survive the Northern Transvaal pace bowler's onslaught on 26 December 1990 at Newlands, but the moment was indicative of how out of depth I felt playing cricket at that level. I mean, the guy put the fear of God into me. From this baptism-by-fire debut, it took a good three years before I could honestly say that I was comfortable batting against bowlers of Tertius's calibre. Facing schoolboy fast bowlers was one thing; facing the likes of Tertius, Allan Donald and Brett Schultz in my first season of senior cricket was another ball game altogether. Up until that stage, cricket had come easy to me. They bowled the ball to me; I made them go fetch it. That suited me. I reckon I was about 10 when I first began to get an idea that I was pretty good at the game. I attended St Joseph's College in Rondebosch, Cape Town, and every time a pupil took six wickets or made 100 runs, they used to have a little ceremony at assembly on a Monday morning and award you a wooden plaque with a ball mounted on top. The problem was that I was scoring so many runs that they eventually had to stop giving me the award. It was a little embarrassing for all concerned, I think. So ja, by then I was beginning to understand that maybe I was a bit better than other kids my age. I was 11 when I first saw my name appear in the Cape Argus. Legendary Cape Town sportswriter AC Parker had written a report on the SA Perm Week - basically the national under-13 cricket tournament. The headline read: 'Herschelle's star on the rise'. My dad still has that clipping in his scrapbook. It was my first year at Perm Week - I was in Standard 4 (now Grade 6) then. I played for Western Province again the following year, in my final year at primary school. It was in high school though that I really started making a name for myself, and not only in schoolboy sport, but at senior level as well. I was offered a scholarship by Bishops, an exclusive private school, after John Peake, the headmaster, had noticed my sporting abilities, and I started there in Standard 6. I think I was on a full day-scholarship; I never asked my dad about the financial side of it, but I do know that he could never have afforded to send me there. My dad had struggled to afford St Joseph's, let alone Bishops. But I didn't just excel at cricket; I was making a name for myself as a rugby player too. I think playing rugby had a lot to do with my scholarship, as school rugby was, and remains, a big deal at Bishops. But the big deal for me back then was neither cricket nor rugby. Football was my favourite sport and the one at which I reckoned I was most talented. I was already playing provincial football at that age. [...]

This is an excerpt from the book: To the point, by Herschelle Gibbs and Steve Smith.

Title: To the point
Genre: Cricket sport autobiography
Author: Herschelle Gibbs; Steve Smith
Imprint: Zebra Press
Publisher: Random House Struik
Cape Town, South Africa 2014
ISBN 9781770221314 / ISBN 978-1-77022-131-4
Softcover, 15 x 23 cm, 272 pages, numerous b/w and colour photos