Gibbs becomes a Dynamo
English county Durham are the latest to snare the T20 talents of South African cricketer Herschelle Gibbs.
The 37-year-old Gibbs has just come off a stint with Perth Scorchers who recently reached the inaugural finals of Australia’s KFC Big Bash.
He was named as opener in the Select XI of the Big Bash, with Bigpondsports.com noting:
“The South African limited overs great who infamously ‘dropped the World Cup” against Steve Waugh’s side more than a decade ago has some much happier memories of Australia now, partially thanks to a dominant effort at the top of the order for the Perth Scorchers in the Big Bash League.
“He has hit a competition-high 41 fours on the way to 302 runs at a bumper average of 50.33 – and at a terrific strike rate of 152.52 runs per hundred balls. A rock at the top of the order for Perth, Gibbs hit four half-centuries in his six innings. Now almost 38, and having played his last Test match four years ago, Gibbs joined a brigade of golden oldies to excel in the shortest form of the game this summer.”
Gibbs is in Dhaka, where he is hard at work preparing with the Khulna Royal Bengals for the start of the Bangladesh Premier League over the weekend.
A few days ago, Gibbs was snapped up at the Indian Premier League auction by the Mumbai Indians.
In between his stints for Khulna Royal Bengals and the Mumbai Indians, Gibbs will be playing for the Cape Cobras in South Africa’s T20 competition.
Since the Perth Scorchers, by virtue of being Australia’s T20 finalists, have already qualified for the Champions League Twenty20, Gibbs will be on the world’s T20 circuit until October.
Durham Dynamos, as the club’s limited-overs sides are called, have announced that Gibbs will be joining the team for the full duration of the Friends Life T20 competition, which gets under way in mid-June.
The move to Durham will see Gibbs join up with his Perth Scorchers team-mate Paul Collingwood.
Dynamos head coach Geoff Cook said Gibbs will bring excitement and personality to their Chester-le-Street venue, the Emirates Durham International Cricket Ground.
“It is a real coup for us to be able to bring a player of Herschelle’s calibre to our set-up for the T20 competition,” said Cook. “It just goes to show that Durham’s reputation as a progressive and successful club can attract quality players who want to help us win trophies.
“I’m excited by the prospect of having Herschelle in our team and I’m confident that he will add an extra dimension to our batting line up and some real personality out there in the middle.”
Gibbs is no stranger on the English county circuit, having played for several sides during 21 seasons of first-class cricket. The 37-year-old Gibbs said he was looking forward to the Durham stint.
“Durham are committed to on-the-field development and have real ambitions to progress in T20, which is what attracted me to the club,” said Gibbs. “There is some massive talent in the dressing room and I can’t wait to see what we can achieve.
“I’ve been performing pretty well in the T20 format and I think I can offer some real variation to the side. I’m looking forward to my experience contributing to plenty of Durham wins.”
Durham’s limited overs team is captained by Dale Benkenstein, who played alongside Gibbs in a few South African age-group teams as well as in the Proteas ODI teams.
The explosive opening batsman Gibbs will be joined in the Friends Life T20 competition by fellow South African Albie Morkel who has been snapped up by Somerset, who have also acquired the services of West Indian Chris Gayle.
The Durham marketing department have wasted no time in announcing Gibbs’s arrival by urging local fans to buy tickets for the team’s opening match. Their advertisement read: “Give Herschelle a warm North East welcome on his first game for Durham by securing your seat for our opening Friends Life T20 match of the 2012 season on Sunday 17 June when the Dynamos face Notts Outlaws at Emirates Durham ICG.” — Herman R Gibbs, SportsCentral
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