Herschelle Gibbs' candid autobiography may have resulted in him losing a handful of friends from the cricketing circle
Herschelle Gibbs' candid autobiography may have resulted in him losing a handful of friends from the cricketing circle. However, the father of former South African batsman Herman has no qualms over whatever his son wrote.
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Gibbs wrote in his autobiography titled 'To The Point': "The team has been criticised for being run by a group of senior players ufffd Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher, and more recently, AB de Villiers.
"Herschelle didn't tell me much initially (about the book). He was having these interviews and asked to contribute for a publisher. Eventually, he asked me for his childhood photographs. That's how I got to know he was writing a book," said Gibbs Sr, a former sprinter-turned-sports journalist.
Herman said the turning away of friends didn't bother his son.u00a0 "It doesn't bother Herschelle at all (about losing friends). He didn't do it to sell the book, just spoke purely from the heart. He had no interest in how many books were selling. There was nothing really serious (about the content). Most of it was already documented.
Cricket South Africa was contemplating legal action, and Jacques Kallis said he would support such action.
However, nothing really happened because it was all true," he added.u00a0u00a0
Meanwhile, Gibbs Sr wanted Herschelle to concentrate on rugby. He was the first ever South African to receive a rugby contract. EPL giants Arsenal too had shown interest in signing Gibbs for their academy when he was just 12.u00a0 "I pushed him to play rugby. But his first love was football, he was multi-talented," he said.
As for his son's cricketing career, Herman said: "I can't complain as he played almost 300 ODIs and 100 Tests for South Africa, and always played wearing his heart on his sleeve," concluded Gibbs Sr.
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