I don’t want my son in a smelly Indian jail: Herschelle Gibbs Sr

Herman Gibbs is under no illusions of what could happen to his son on a tour of India. ‘‘I don’t want him to be in any smelly...

Herman Gibbs is under no illusions of what could happen to his son on a tour of India. ‘‘I don’t want him to be in any smelly Indian jail,’’ he says, referring to reports that his son Herschelle could be questioned — or worse — by the Delhi Police if he comes to India as part of the South African cricket team later this year.

Herman — who controls and, in this case, cuts off access to his son — is well-informed on the state of Indian jails, thanks to several conversations with South African judge Sirajuddin Desai, who was arrested in Mumbai on rape charges during the World Social Forum earlier this year.

‘‘Jails in itself are bad, but Indian jails are really bad. The judge has not stopped telling us tales about his stay there,’’ Gibbs Sr, a sports writer for Sunday Times in Cape Town, told The Indian Express from South Africa.

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So will Herschelle travel? He’ll be guided, says Herman, by the advice of the United Cricket Board (UCB). ‘‘If they say he has to go, he will; if they feel he doesn’t then he won’t.’’

What troubles the father is the timing of the whole enquiry, though no one from Delhi Police has contacted him. ‘‘When the UCB and ICC are satisfied and have closed the matter, I do not understand why the Indians want to open it again.’’

Though he understands that the Indian police have a job to do, he points out that Herschelle has already done his time. ‘‘He has served his six-month ban and said sorry, then why all this again. And it was a one-off incident.’’

	THE CASE AGAINST GIBBS

			• Gibbs, Nicky Boje and Henry Williams were named by Delhi Police as Hansie Cronje’s accomplices in match-fixing. They were charged with having accepted money from a host of Indian bookmakers down the years. The King Commission in SA slapped a six-month ban on Gibbs, which he served out before returning to the game. Delhi Police say the case is still open in India and “could” question him. • RK Anand, lawyer for Ajay Jadeja, says cops have no case and Gibbs, Boje no reason to fear

The sad part in all this, Gibbs Sr says, is that Herschelle was ‘‘looking forward’’ to touring India and the thrill of playing a good team. ‘‘India is a cricket-mad country and now their team is No 2 in Tests. So naturally cricketers want to play the best rather than playing a second-string Zimbabwe team. It would be much more challenging.’’

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The son, he says, is currently spending the off-season playing golf — ‘‘he’s getting better everyday, looking forward to getting one or two under par.’’

Meanwhile, Herschelle’s case has given his father an issue to write about in his weekly column. ‘‘I have been speaking to former players and have got some interesting suggestions from them. And one of the main points to emerge has been the possibility of offering sportsmen diplomatic immunity.’’

The reason, he adds, is simple. ‘‘You see, sportsmen represent their country and are basically ambassadors for their nation.’’ That’s the safest bet, it would seem, for Gibbs Jr to tour India.

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