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Herschelle Gibbs is no stranger to controversy. In a short life he has run foul of the authorities on several occasions, most notably when he became embroiled in the infamous match-fixing scandal with the disgraced former South Africa captain Hansie Cronje. But in an interview with Simon Wilde in the London-based Sunday Times, Gibbs showed little remorse for his involvement with Cronje and even joked that he treated his six-month ban as a “holiday”.”I loved it,” he said when asked about his forced break. “I played golf virtually every week. It wasn’t a difficult time. I’m a happy sort of guy. I don’t really get down about things that don’t go my way.” The life-skills counselling that Gibbs undertook following the hearings appears not to have included the art of thinking before speaking.At the King Commission hearings, Gibbs broke down during questioning, and yet he admitted that soon after he and Cronje “had a good laugh”. And Gibbs added that he held no animosity towards Cronje for getting him involved in the scandal. “No. I never for one minute held it against him.”Barry Richards hinted that Gibbs isn’t necessarily the sharpest card in the pack. “Team management should not burden him with game plans and undue responsibility,” he told Wilde.Perhaps the best assessment of Gibbs comes from Wilde himself. “He is living proof of the dangers inherent in living the blinkered existence of the professional sportsman,” Wilde wrote. “He still laughs at serious issues and often opens mouth before engaging brain.”Click here for the full Sunday Times article

Former Australian cricket captain and Nine Network cricket commentatorMark Taylor today vigorously denied quotes attributed to him in a Sydneynewspaper calling on Steve Waugh to retire from international cricket.The back-page report in today’s Daily Telegraph was based on commentssupposedly made by Taylor on the World Cup’s official website.”Since arriving in South Africa on February 9 I have not made any publiccomments concerning Steve Waugh, nor have I given any interviews on thesubject,” said Taylor. “And in the two World Cup matches that I have sofar been part of as a commentator I made no reference to Stevewhatsoever.”Taylor said: “I completely refute comments attributed to me in aso-called interview reported on the official ICC World Cup websitedealing with Steve Waugh and several other issues.””I have steadfastly stayed clear of the public debate concerning SteveWaugh’s future,” Taylor said from Johannesburg.”Having been through something similar myself back in 1997, I can wellappreciate what Steve is going through. That’s why I have consistentlyrefused to enter the debate as to whether he should keep playing orretire.”(Issued by Mark Taylor’s management, The Fordham Company.)

KINGSTON – Kenrick Dennis, a promising fast bowler who played briefly for Jamaica in the late 1980s, died in a road accident in the United States yesterday, according to Jamaica Cricket Association sources.He will be remembered for his misfortune in spilling two catches as a substitute fielder in the final over of a nailbiting one-day final against Barbados at a jam-packed Sabina Park in 1988.His fielding errors led to a Barbadian triumph. Dennis never represented Jamaica after that game and migrated shortly after.

India have a chance to regroup and reorganise over the next four days in the sleepy seaside town of East London where the tourists meet a South African A team at Buffalo Park.It’s probably the ideal venue for a team that needs a little soul-searching if it is to establish exactly what went wrong in Bloemfontein earlier in the week. To put in bluntly, there’s not an awful lot to do in Bloemfontein, as past touring sides have discovered.Two years ago when England were in East London, the man from the Daily Telegraph likened the town to an open prison. This, perhaps, was a little harsh (after all, locals claims with some pride that the ratio of women to men in this part of the country is nine to one), but the point is that not a lot, barring elderly couples out strolling along the promenade, seems to happen here.So if the Indians wanted some sea air and a chance to rethink their approach, then they could scarcely have asked for better surrounds, always providing that the band of rain currently sweeping across South Africa stays away from this part of the Eastern Cape.The opposition facing the Indians this weekend should test the tourists. Although the South African A team has suffered a spate of injuries, some would argue that the call-ups of Daryll Cullinan and the diminutive Northerns Titans wicketkeeper Kruger van Wyk have actually strengthened the team.From a South African point of view, the performances of Cullinan along with Jacques Rudolph, Paul Adams and Charl Langeveldt will all be closely watched. Cullinan is in the frame possibly for the third Test and the subsequent tour of Australia as is Rudolph, while Adams is desperately trying to prove that he has recovered some of the spark that brought him 96 wickets in 34 TestsLangeveldt, meanwhile, was in the squad for the first Test before being abruptly discarded. Exactly where he fits into the selectors’ thinking is something of a puzzle, but, clearly, he’s in there somewhere.For the Indians, though, the match provides an opportunity to sort out one or two vexing problems, most particularly an opening partner for Shiv Das. Rahul Dravid was used there, without success, in Bloemfontein and it is hard to believe that the tourists will again sacrifice one of their senior batsmen again in Port Elizabeth.Connor Williams should get a game in East London – it will be his first bat in the middle on South African soil – and the other option for the Indians, of course, is to try out Virender Sehwag at the top of the order. The argument against using Sehwag as an opener is that he had just scored a century at number six, so why change him. At the same time, Sehwag must be brimming with confidence and, in scoring his hundred in Bloemfontein, he demonstrated that he has the stomach to take on the South African seamers.Harbhajan Singh will get an outing in East London after sitting out the Test match with his unfortunate affliction and while India might want to give their left-arm seamers another run, they surely will also let Ajit Agarkar loose once again. Indian coach John Wright as much as admitted that it had been a mistake to leave Agarkar out of the first Test and now that he’s had two weeks off, he surely needs a run out in the middle.

Queenslander Martin Love compiled a stylish century against South Australia as the Pura Cup leaders dominated the opening day of the top of the table clash here today.Love’s elegant unbeaten 120 steered the Bulls to a commanding 2-257 at stumps.The right hander was in complete control of the Redbacks from the moment he stepped on to a sweltering Adelaide Oval today – after just one ball of the match.Love strode to the crease after Redbacks paceman Mark Harrity trapped Bulls opener Jerry Cassell lbw for a golden duck with the initial delivery of the match.But SA had to wait more than three hours before experiencing success again as Love joined acting captain Jimmy Maher to thwart the home bowlers.Maher, assuming the leadership in the absence of Stuart Law (broken finger) and playing his 100th first-class match for Queensland, also appeared set for a biginnings before being dismissed for 66 from the bowling of emerging quick Paul Rofe.Inexperienced right hander Brendan Nash then joined the veteran Love and combined in an unbroken 119-run partnership for the third wicket.Love, who displayed immaculate placement and concentration during a patient innings, registered his century from 243 deliveries which included nine fours.He remained not out 120 at stumps with Nash unbeaten on 59.Rofe toiled manfully in hot conditions, sending down 21 overs for a return of 1-54 while Harrity claimed 1-57 from 17 overs.Queensland took a two-point lead over SA into this fixture at the top of the cup table.

Hampshire Second XI go into their last ECB County Championship match of the season, against Warwickshire at Bournemouth Sports Club, knowing that to clinch the title they will need just 8 (eight) points, and that is surmising Yorkshire would get 20 points from their last match against Durham at Darlington.Both 3-day matches start on Wednesday 5th September.Hampshire have remained unbeaten all season, winning seven of their ten matches, Yorkshire who have played 12 games, have lost two.Tony Middleton, Hampshire’s second XI coach is confident his side can win the title. “They deserve to, the players have all given 100%, and despite first-team injuries during the summer, we have always brought in players ready to fill the gaps. In truth winning the Championship would be nice, but it is the development of the team, and seeing the young players, and one or two older ones vying for first XI places that is more pleasing. We have watched the likes of John Francis, James Schofield and Chris Tremlett all doing well for the firsts, and that is what 2nd XI cricket is all about”.Hampshire eleven: Jason Laney, Andrew Sexton, John Stephenson, Lawrence Prittipaul, Damian Shirazi, Iain Brunnschweiler, Irfan Shah, James Hamblin, Simon Francis, James Schofield.Full match details will be posted on the Hampshire web site each evening, and wicket-keeper Iain Brunnschweiler will be posting a daily report (www.hampshire.cricket.org).

The chairman of the West Indies selectors, Mike Findlay, has come to the defence of a controversial decision to include Brian Lara in the party to tour Sri Lanka in November.Lara has been hampered by hamstring injuries for almost a year and was unable to participate totally in training last week because there are still fears that he has not yet fully recovered from the injury. He was forced to return early from the recent West Indies tour of Zimbabwe when the problem flared up once again.Findlay said: “Brian still has a future in West Indies cricket and he can still make a significant contribution to West Indies cricket. We are not going to allow history to condemn us that we hadn’t given one of the best batsmen in the Caribbean and best in the world every assistance we could in sorting his problems, whether they are mental or physical. What appears to some people to be leaning on the side of Brian Lara is not that at all.”Lara proved during the recent Red Stripe Bowl competition that, injured or not, he could still score heavily. He came close to establishing himself as the leading batsman in the competition’s history after a prolific season.There is no doubt that the requirement for a fit and in-form Lara became even greater when a back injury forced Shivnarine Chanderpaul to withdraw from the squad earlier this week.

Elite B had to be satisfied with five points from their drawn encounter against Elite C, which ended at Vijayawada’s Indira Gandhi stadium on Sunday.After MSK Prasad opted to bat on Thursday morning, fifties from opener Wasim Jaffer (76) and Sairaj Bahutule (61), and good hands from Amit Pagnis (49), Vinayak Mane (47) and Tejinder Pal Singh (43) helped Elite B post 390 in their first innings. For Elite C, left-arm spinner Nilesh Kulkarni claimed five wickets.The Elite C reply never really took off after early jolts from medium-pacer Harvinder Singh, who claimed both openers with just 39 on the board. Leggie Sairaj Bahutule then took over, claiming six wickets, as Elite C, with the exception of Yere Goud (46) and Nikhil Doru (60*), struggled. The fall of the final Elite C wicket with the score reading 247 gained Elite B a 143-run lead.With less than one and a half days of play remaining, Elite B, led from the front by opener Wasim Jaffer (102), set off in pursuit of quick runs and an outright win. A declaration by Prasad with the Elite B score reading 201/7 in the second innings left Elite C with an improbable 345 runs for win.They decided to settle for a draw instead, notching up 155/2 in 51 overs when play was called off. Opener Satyajit Parab (65*) and middle-order bat Jacob Martin (55*) were the batting stars for Elite C.

A new Function Room on the 3rd Level of the Bradman Stand at Adelaide Ovalhas been named the Gil Langley Room.While a number of prominent people who have made a contribution to sport,sport administration and Adelaide Oval were considered, there was aunanimous decision by the SACA Board in the naming of the new room.Gil, who died recently, made his first class debut for South Australia in1945-46 as a specialist batsman and donned the gloves during the 1947-48season. He was selected for Australia as wicket-keeper in the 1951-52 seriesagainst the West Indies, and played regularly for Australia until 1956. Hewas recognised as one of five “Cricketers of the year” by Wisden in 1957.Gil was also a successful footballer, who played for, and captained Sturt,as well as South Australia.He entered politics and became the Member for Unley for 20 years, he wasalso elected as the Speaker of the House.

The VCA Board today named Matthew Elliott as Bushrangers captain for the2001/02 ING Cup Competition (formerly Mercantile Mutual), replacing PaulReiffel who has held the post for two seasons.Reiffel remains captain of the Bushrangers in the Pura Cup, his third season in the role. Bushrangers coach John Scholes said the appointments were the correctdecisions for all concerned.”Matthew’s elevation to the one-day captaincy reflects the esteem with which he is held in Victorian cricket, whilst Paul will be able to focus his energies solely on leading our Pura Cup campaign. We are committed to preserving Paul’slongevity in the game, although he may play some matches in the ING Cup. However leading both sides with today’s heavy domestic programming and therefore being available for all games, is not conducive to that.”Elliott, who was also named as vice-captain of the Bushrangers Pura Cupteam, was similarly enthused with the decision.”Captaincy is something that has been an ambition of mine for a long time. To be leading the Bushrangers in the ING Cup is a great honour and I look forward toworking closely with Paul Reiffel throughout the season.”The Bushrangers player of the year in both the 2000/01 Pura and Mercantile Mutual Cups, Brad Hodge, has been elevated to the vice-captaincy of the ING Cup one-day side.Speaking from England, Hodge was excited by the news. “It’s great news and something I’m very proud of. However we need to keep improving our performances, particularly in one-day cricket and I think I can play a big part in that.”