Gibbs faces ban, Williams may only be suspended

Paul Martin Cainer Southern Africa Correspondent for rediff.com

South Africa's star opening batsman Herschelle Gibbs will be banned from Test and one-day international cricket for at least the rest of the year, according to sources at the disciplinary hearing held into allegations of involvement in match-fixing. Gibbs openly admitted to the hearing, as he had at the King Commission, that he had been willing to under-perform for payment and accepting ex-Captain Hansie Cronje's bribery offer.

He was to score less than 20 runs, but said he got carried away and smashed a quick half-century.

The findings of the the three-man tribunal, chaired by former judge Mervyn King, are only scheduled to be released on Monday week but after Saturday's hearings it would appear that Gibbs is facing a minimum of banishment from the game till the end of this year, and possibly as much as a full one-year ban (dating back from his admission at the King Commission).

Henry Williams is expected to get a financial penalty and a suspended sentence. Gibbs and Williams both pleaded guilty to the charges laid against them by the UCB -- the former on two counts, the latter on one -- while Strydom's counsel, barrister Izak Smuts, registered a plea of not guilty.

Pieter Strydom, though, walked out the United Cricket Board of South Africa's hearing virtually secure in the knowledge that he will receive nothing more than a rap over the knuckles for his role in the "Hansiegate" cricket scandal.

Gibbs's legal representative, advocate Mike Fitzgerald, pointed out that his 26-year-old client had already suffered financial losses in excess of 3.4 million US dollars since being suspended in June.

He pleaded for a suspended sentence on his client, but inside sources state this will be rejected.

The disciplinary hearing, set up by the UCB, has a former senior judge Mervyn King and two fellow panelists, barrister Michael Kuper and Jake Moloi. They intimated that the signal to South Africa's cricketers and the cricket world should be clear. "A total suspended sentence would not be a signal," said Kuper in reply to Fitzgerald's plea for leniency.

Gibbs is already under a three-match suspended sentence, and will probably be ruled out of competitive cricket of any sort for the next few months. Since the local South African season starts in November and goes through to April or May, it may be that his sentence will run until the end of the local season.

"We know the UCB is under pressure from the ICC to send out a strong signal, so they wouldn't be happy with anything less than that sort of ban," said one of South Africa's major cricket sponsors who is regularly in close contact with Dr Ali Bacher. The general consensus is that Gibbs is still young enough to regroup and pick up his career, though his absence does heavily weaken South Africa's already brittle batting line-up.

A similar judgement on Williams however would virtually put paid to the 33-year-old pace bowler's career, with champion province Boland having already indicated that should Williams be suspended they would not be willing to renew his contract.

As an international rookie, it was argued by Fitzgerald, Williams had been heavily influenced by Hansie Cronje, a man for whom he had always had a high regard and he had basically been scared to go against his captain's wishes.

Strydom, who only appeared before the panel after the Gibbs-Williams hearings had been completed, pleaded not guilty to a charge of having conspired to place a bet on South Africa winning the Test against England at Centurion Park on January 18 -- a relatively minor offence, which advocate Smuts pointed out, would not have been uncovered had Strydom himself not volunteered the information to the King commission in Cape Town.

"In Strydom's case we would be satisfied with a cautioning," said UCB legal representative, barrister Brendan Manca -- a clear indication that Strydom is to get off with a warning.

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