But it does expose a deeper problem with South African cricket. Smith's team fully deserved their victory, Pakistan were outplayed, but the manner of the victory left something to be desired. The snarling--and persistent--abuse that South Africa's players hurled at Pakistan's players went some way beyond sledging. It is amazing that the umpires tolerated it.

The behaviour of South Africa's players created a vile atmosphere in this first Test match, and whether or not it was for ears or eyes only it was evident for the world to see. These antics do not excuse the behaviour of Pakistan's fans but it surely contributed to their agitation.

All credit to Cricket South Africa for further investigating Herschelle Gibbs but what they really should be doing is considering the public conduct of their team. It is conduct that does little for the image of the Rainbow Nation.

Thank You Sir, i really appreciate it. I hope this matter is taken up seriously now. It isnt only Gibbs who is the offender, i think other South Africans are involved as well, lets just hope that this doesnt happen in the 2nd test.Cheers

The decision is a good one especially with the background of South Africa as a formerly aparthied nation. The interesting comment was from the South African coach who said that the comment was meant only for the players on the field and that the stump microphone was offensive. That is the best load of bull I have ever heard. So if no one hears it racism is okay? I say we ban the coach as well, someone who helps direct a team like this needs to get his bearings in order before he should be allowed to manage others!

I'm don't really agree with the punishment handed to Gibbs, I think it was a bit harsh.

There is limit to how far the players can go in regards to making indecent statements; at the same time they are only human and sometimes anger gets the better of a person, as in the case of Gibbs.

Yes, he should be punished, but my opinion is that he should be slapped with a smaller punishment; I guess maybe 2 ODI's or something like that. Just my opinion.

-Peace!

Dear Kamran,
I totally agree with what you have said in ur aticle..Racism should not be accepted in any part of the game..there's one thing called sledging which dare i say can be viewed as part of the game, which to an extent i think is right!.. but to acually call out racist or other provocative comments such as what Gibbs said is totally wrong and i think the ban given to him may not be suffice 4 the offence hes commited..Nevertheless South African cricket have taken a good logical step to ba him..regardless of whether hw long the ban is for...However, i really dont have any sympathy for pakistani fans whom disgraced there nation!not for the first time..Us pakistani's seriously need to think about our actions to keep the unity and the deserved respect!Otherwise im afraid so..ppl will look down on us!

Thanks

Shary

Khudahafiz

Thank you Kamran for addressing this issue. Respect to the South African Board for taking care of this issue in a swift and appropriate manner.

Don't forget SA themselves were subject to much racist taunts from crowds in their last tour of Australia. The problem needs to be stamped out, not just in SA either.
On the other hand, the rest of the non-racist sledging is a healthy part of the game in some countries right from club-level up. The more opposition fralities and half-doubts are exposed, the more they start to question their own ability. Cricket is a mental examination as much as one of physical skill.

The crowd incensed H Gibbs, not the other way around Mr Akmal. The reason the crowd were agitated was because SA plays their cricket hard..not neccisarily because they were being racists...teams like Pakistan have to be strong enough to give back as good as you get..or get on with the game.

TAUHIRA from Jamaica please don't display dual standards here. Earlier, when Shoaib and Asif were banned you said, they deserve the punishment as there is no room for drug abusers. Now you think that a two test match ban on Gibbs for his racist slur is a bit too harsh? Inzamam didn't speak a word from his mouth in the Bangalore test, he only clenched his fist and shrugged his shoulders against a caught behind appeal disallowed by the umpire and he got a two test match ban.

Ricky Ponting in Malaysia, goes to the umpire Mark Benson and says, you are a disgrace to be called an umpire, forget about a ban, MarK Benson did not even report the matter to the match referee.

Andre Nel keeps abusing the opposition and he never stops. He keeps using the "F" word so often and I wonder how the match referee ignores it? I think the new kid on the block "Sreesanth" gave him a taste of his own medicine by gyrating his hips on the pitch and waving his bat in Rodeo style after hitting two sixes of Nel's pathetic bowling. He deserves a ban or someone should stuff a glove in his mouth.

Dean Jones was chucked off from his contract with Ten Sports and was asked to leave the country by the first available flight for calling Hashim Amla a terrorist. He then went on defending that he didn't mean it this way or that way and it was not intended for Amla but for someone else, all that denial was of no use.

How can Gibbs get away with such rude racist comments? In my opinion he should have got a ban for this entire series.

I think the ICC has dual standards and it is confirmed now. Also, Hair has now been reinstated and allowed to stand in as an umpire for International matches being played in Kenya! There you go, this man is not going to retire, because he has full support from the ICC.

Aleem Daar was intimidated through out the Ashes series by the Australians, especially Shane Warne. Aleem Daar knows that by annoying Australians he might loose his job if not he may not get opportunities to stand in such big matches. I remember that last year the Aussies filed complained against Aleem Daar for giving two decisions which the Aussies think were dubious. Shane Watson calls him a pathetic Paki umpire. He is another Andre Nel type character.

Sorry Mr. Jag but your argument contradicts itself. First you say that cricket is a mental game and then you say that the crowd incensed Gibbs. So are you saying that Gibbs is 'frail' and has 'self doubts' and that is why he came down to racial slurs and couldnt deal with the crowd tauntig him. ;-)
Sorry Sir, it doesnt work both ways! You cant dish out and then not be able to take it. Its pretty evident that the South African bowlers and close-in fielders sledge at the batsmen and try to distract them. So what if a few ignorant fans did the same to one of the fielders.
South Africa has a pretty dodgy history when it comes to racism, its best for them to get folks like Gibbs a few games off rather then open what could be a pandora's box!

What has happened to Gibbs is totally ridiculous. He did not make any comment that can be interpreted as racist. These are the facts.
1) Some Pakistan supporters were abusing Harris (a white player) and Ntini (a black player)
2) Gibbs (a player of mixed race ancestry) described the spectators as being "bloody animals".
3) He did not say anything that reflected on what race the spectators were.
4) His comment means that the behaviour of the spectators was like animals. No reasonable person can dispute that.

The punishment that has been handed out to Gibbs is political correctness gone wild.

Here we have a small group of spectators behaving in a disgraceful fashion. When they are taken to task, they immediately play the racism card and the wimpy ICC goes along with it. Anyone who thinks that what Gibbs said was racist, has no idea of what real racism is.

Thank you Kamran for raising this issue on your blog. With due respect to Jag, there is difference between playing your cricket hard and badmouthing other teams and spectators through racial slurrs and it is a difference that a nation like SA should be particularly attentive to. While the attitude and activities of Pakistani spectators who evoked this reponse were shameful, two wrongs don't make a right. Earlier, team Australia had become notorious due their indecent language and sledging of the opposing team. Is it a mere coincidence that, of all cricketing nations, the two teams who engage most in these kinds of below the belt tactics come from societies that do not enjoy a good reputation for racial tolerance and ethnic difference? Personally, I found the lame defense of Gibbs offered by coach Mickey Arthur and the indifference of captain Graem Smith shocking.

I struggle to see where the Racist line is coming from. From where I sit Gibbs was responding to the "animal" like behaviour of the crowd. Which no one can deny was overtly racist.
The term "Animal" is a common term used to describe the base type of behaviour of anothers.
Just because he hung the Pakistani tag to it doesnt make it racist remark.
If feel if its all come to this some teams around the world need to take their bats & balls & go play at home. Soft

hi Kamran, you say the "behaviour of SA players created a vile atmosphere". I watched some of the game but I wonder what behaviour specifically you are referring too? Were there other incidents, apart from the Gibbs comment about the crowd?
Greg

No place for racism period! Shame on you, Gibbs!

South Africa love to cry foul if they feel they have been hard done by but are the first to try and defend the indfensible when they are in the wrong. Smith and Arthur are hypocrites of the hghest order and the sooner that Smith is shown to be a pretender as a test captain the better.

We haven't heard much from Graeme Smith who likes to take the high moral ground when there is allegations of racial taunting. All the alleged racial taunting that took place in Perth when SA were here was done by expatriate South Africans who number in the tens of thousands here (mostly in Africaans and not familiar to most Australians) - Smith was very quick to complain long and loudly about that (as he should) but somehow failed to realise or mention that his former countrymen were perpetrators. Smith then was at great pains to warn Monty Panesar of what to expect in terms of racial abuse when he arrived with the England team. Thankfully there has been no racial abuse of Monty who is a cult figure in these parts and loved by all. Hopefully big Graeme will come out strongly and criticize Gibbs very strongly and explain to him that he, with all his experience, shouldn't be getting sucked in by a couple of Pakistani supporters who are in leave of their senses.

I suppose these things do happen - and it IS sad.
These are the players we actually idealize; and seeing them act like fourth graders can be quite frustrating.

I think he deserved the two match ban.

But well, it's not a real big issue.. our focus should turn back on the cricket there.

As a Pakistani, i dont like this punishment, its too harsh, we all know how our fans are? pakistanis are not the most "civilized" people on the planet,

For gods Sake we have steel fences and barricades!! in our stadiums to prevent crowds from even getting close to players... We are staring down at the bottom of the barrel when it comes to literacy and education..

it sickens me when "WE" are judging other people!

"its like we are telling someone else that they smell yet we ourselves havnt showered in a month"

I'm with Gibbs on this one, Lets hope South Africa Wins this Series Comprehensively.

Thank you

I never saw any of the South African players verbally abuse any of the white Australian crowd who abused the South African players during their tour to Australia. Was it because the crowd were brown skinned Pakistanis in this instance that Hershelle felt he could sledge back at them? The South Africans are still living in the days of white supremacy, especially when Captain Smith spends five minutes explaining why Hershelle said what he said instead of condemning it unconditionally.

In this world of Hatred, SAF were justifiable of their old reputation. Although this country claims to Apartheid free and rid of it's problems. I ask a question, these so called Pak supporters were of SAF origin, they didn't fly over especially. What they did was wrong, but what made them do it is the injustice they feel in that country. I know I have been to SAF the people in that country judge by skin and race, SIMPLY.

To substantiate my claim that I made in my recent post about what "Tauhira from Jamaica" wrote when Shoaib Akhtar and Asif were banned for drug use, now she thinks that the punishment Gibbs got for racism slur is a bit harsh? Here is a copy of her post in the WADA YADA YADA thread:

"Posted by: Tauhira from Jamaica at December 23, 2006 11:36 PM

I think WADA has the right to make an appeal to the Court of Arbitration. Asif and Akhtar were let off just like that.
The players said that they didn't know that the drugs were in their system or how it got there. "Ignorance" simply cannot be used as a defence.
The fact is that the drugs was there and somehow, they should be punished, even if they had to do community service, some form of punishment should have been given."

Tauhira, why should Gibbs be let off the hook when he was caught on the TV red handedly?

I think Mr. Jag is confusing Mr. Abbasi for the cricketer Kamran Akmal :)

I am curious: since when did "bunch of animals" become a racist description ? Certainly, that term has been used for mob-like groups of all races, ranging from fraternity boys on spring break to people in a riot ...

The Afrikaner spirit is alive and well and so evident in the South Aftican Cricket team. Scratch the surface and their true racist views come pouring out. The world sees the boorish behavious of Andre Nel, Granham Smith, Andrew Hall every test match. The ICC displays its impotence to tackle racism head on.

The South Africans got the taste of their own medicine! I think that the bowlers on the 4th day, especially Andre Nel, crossed over the limits. So, apart from Herschelle Gibbs, Nel must also be accountable. Graeme Smith whinning over Shoaib Akhtar swearing at him seems like as if he commands an innocuous and innocent bunch. I think its a total hypocrisy! The match referee must prompt dynamically instead of waiting for a complaint.

I am not defending Gibbs' action here but I still want to point out that the players have enough on their minds already, and to answer the racial onsluaght from the spectators, indirectly, is just natural. and i agree with the SA coach that the stump microphones are a bit intrusive. Whats said on the field should remain on the field.

I would like to commend the Match Referee for punishing Gibbs. You just cannot get away with abusing a race no matter how big the provocation is. Wasnt Inzamam insulted even more by the Indian supporters in Toronto. Match Referee Chris Broad also needs to seriously look into Andre Nel's conduct. I understand that showing respect to opponents is not part of Graeme Smith's approach but Nel goes a bit overboard. Once in a while these gestures and words do not spoil the spirit of the game. But Nel just doesnt know when to stop. We just cannot accept this as a part of his behavior and keep ignoring.

Well, I think Pakistani crowds are not famous for making racist taunts anywhere in the world , what made them furious was probably Andre Nel's behaviour throughout the match

Mr. Kamran Abbasi, your entry blog regarding SA sledging is much appreciated, but I guess you were too diplomatic. Andre Nel's crazy antics go well beyond sledging but because of PCB's spineless attitude nothing has been done to stop the nonsense.

As regards SA's performance pls. remember that they were actually playing with 13 players including the two empires. Again Bob Woolmer and the team admins are too cowardish to do anything about that too.

I agree, there should be no tolerance for whatever H Gibbs did. But there should not be any tolenrance for bad/unruly crowd as well. I will agree with you that the section of crowd that was involved in this episode is a disgrace to Pakistan and PCB should be very strict in spelling out zero-tolerance from unruly crowd behaviour. I also think comments from Micky Arthur and Greame Smith were also harsh one way or the other. A racist comment is "always" bad wether meant for bunch of team mates or for the whole world. I think stump mikes are important and should be turned on all the time so that we know what exactly this "sledging" is all about. If there is something like accepable limit, than they better let us hear that out and if it's not, it's not and we have a proof against the offender. Finally Greame Smith was pretty Pakistan-specific in his comments and just two series ago, his team was talking about Aussy crowd and giving it back to them when they visited SA. I think being a captain G Smith should try to be a bit diplomatic while making such comments.

What was racist about Gibb's comments? If referred some spectators as "animals" that counts as an insult, not a racist insult.

Well said Kamran, very well said indeed.

I think the south-africa caption should also be banned for not controlling his players.
specially gibbs.

One think more why haven't you mention Andre Nel. His attitude and behaviour in whole test was ridiculus and poor.
Why were the umpires tolerating him so much. We all see on TV what kind of stupid things he was doing on the field. Even Ramiz Raja describe him as having Mental Problem.

Shame on south-africa. Dame Shame this is how you play cricked and win matches.

I think Pakistan Team should next bycott the test-field if gibbs, or andrel nel or any other south-african player behave in such manner

Ridiculous to call this racist . This shows a poor understanding of the context . In South Africa it is common to call someone or a group acting wildly as "animals" .It is simply "slang" and not meant to mean anything similiar to "not human" , or in anyway have any race connotations . I have no , to little doubt that these same choice words would be used to drunken , badly behaved members of any crowd regardless of race or creed . So to accuse Mr Gibbs of racism is absurd .

I Belive Gibbs should have been handed a harsher punishment because on their tour to Australia they were complaining about racist remarks by the Aussie crowds. Now they themselves are doing it, this is not acceptable at all.

The ban on Herschelle Gibbs is one thing, but what about the racist louts whose comments lead to the situation in the first place? Yes, some of them were evicted from the ground and rightly so, but isn't about time that the cricket authorities got tougher on people such as this? South Africa has lost a player because, ill-advisedly, he responded to these taunts in defense of a team mate, but these louts will be back at the next game and will no doubt be making similar comments. Until they are prosecuted for their actions, this sort of behaviour will continue unabated. Surely, what is good for the goose should be good for the gander! Come on cricket, if you are serious about stamping out racism, which I agree with, then make sure that every proponent of it is treated the same and not just the players and cricket officials!

Does anyone know what was actually said (picked up on the mic). In my opinion, calling a group of pakistani supporters a bunch of animals does not amount to racism, imho.

Glad to be put right by anyone.

Please would everyone dry their eyes and put this incident behind them. I personally feel that the biggest problem with the whole matter is that once the press and or a specific racial/religious group get hold of a matter they are like a dog an animal with a bone and don't leave it alone and move on. I agree that racism is unacceptable but i think that had the supporters been white english supporters from the Balmy army i think the whole matter would be looked at in a very different light.......................

It is simple , would the australian or english cricket board have acted this quickly about one of their players. NO, why must south africa always be the ones to prosecute their own while the othe teams just mop everything under the carpet. the comments were made about the crowd not the players he was playing against. If Inzi was abused for a whole day by a soutafrican supporter i'm sure at one stage or another he would go to one og he's mates and say something about it. when some body gets under your skin you do have a tendency to act. And fortunately for the stump mic it was there. we all can sit here high and mighty and say we would never do this or say this, you don't know u ntil you are there. Remeber thinking it is just as good as saying it to all you angels out there

..... and I suppose Pakistan playing with drug tainted players is OK?

Jag : We've heard this before " xxx plays the game hard" - nothing but an excuse to play unfairly to upset the batsman's concentration with non-stop sledging. If that's the only way these teams - SA, Australia, NZ - can play then they should play in their own league. The supporters reflect the attitude of the players - in Australian when the team's winning everyone is all smiles - but when the team loses like they did when India played them, Indian supporters are subjected to racist abuse and even assaulted outside the stadium. According to your philosophy, this is all part of the "game" that's played "hard" right?

I do not see why this comment from Gibbs is racist. The problem with Pakistan is if anyone says anything to them then they take it as an attack on the whole nation. The soccer hooligans from England in my opinion are also animals. Does this now make me a racist as well. This is ridiculous. If people behave like animals(swearing at professional players), they earn the right to be called animals. It does not matter what colour their skin is. This really was a poor blog. When Pakistan players swear at white players, is this then not also racism. Please look up the definition of racism before you post rubbish on this blog

I agree with you there Jag. Its not a sissy's game and the way Pakistan have played their cricket in past years doesnt really earn them much respect. They are always under the spot light for one reason or the other and I think their oposition must be getting fed up with it.

Politics should stay out of sport and stump cams should be used for the umpires ears only. The umpires are there to manage the games and to insure the situation doesnt get out of control. They know when the players are getting to much abuse.

I think the ban is sufficient. I am a South African and i totally don't agree with racism, period! But you must remember that Herschelle was provoked, and if no one had provoked him he wouldn't have said anything. I don't think those specators are a good image to Pakistan. Gibbs' comment was wrong though, but provoked!

I'm South African and proud to be associated with everything my country has to offer. I do however feel that Gibbs should be banned for life for this.He is a proffesional sportsman and should know better. One would expect him to have the wisdom and knowledge to know where we come from ie. racial turmoil!

Jerry

I agree why is it that there is always the excuse "what is said on the filed stays on the field". The incident in the 1st test demonstrates a much wider problem in cricket, the the main culprits being Australia and South Africa. The great West Indies teams of the 70's and 80's could win without foul language and ridiculous intimidatory tactics. Cricket has degenerated into a forum for obscene language and juvenile behavior. The blame for this lies squarely at the feet of the administration they are inexplicably unwilling to implement a code of conduct that would put cricket back in its proper position as a bastion of proper etiquette and good manners. Only then we will once again be able to say "Thats not cricket".

Its part of the parcel. That's how the Aussies and the S.African's play - mental disintegration as Steve Waugh called it.

Perhaps its time to learn to play short pitched bowling rather than dwell on comments on field. After all, Pakistani cricketers dont exactly set the standards in on field behaviour (expletives) particularly with their "preferred expression" related to "siblings" - a reference used to celebrate good times and bemoan worse times!

SA "hurled" "snarling" abuse at the Pakistanis, creeating a "vile" atmosphere in the test match? Emotive writing indeed, Kamran. Perhaps you could make your points with facts instead of this sort of rhetoric.

Whether this alleged abuse could have been heard by the Pakistani supporters (as would be necessary for it to have contributed to their abuse of Gibbs, as you claim) is also questionable.

I am afraid I have to disagree with your comments. To label Gibbs' commentas racist is ridiculous. The fact of the matter is the crowds behaviour was appalling. If the supporters where white would it have been "racism" as well? Not to mention that Gibbs himself is not white either. I think what incencensed Gibbs and most South Africans is that these supporters are born and bred South Africans who support Pakistan.

Mr Abbassi

You seem to have an extremely intimate knowledge of want went on on the field in Centurion. I found it extremely annoying how people can point fingers and claim that the sledging was terrible (was THAT picked up on the stump mic too??). The thing that eeks me is that players must accept the abuse on the field without batting an eyelid yet, when a player make a comment about the fans (not necessarily Pakistanis) were behaving like animals, there's a massive outcry! They were unruly and should've have ejected because of their unsportmanlike behaviour. So please, acknowledge the fact that "those" fans (whoever they were), WERE behaving like animals and even though I don't condone racism in sport, Gibbs' comment was valid.

Grow up dammit. If this is your attitude towards sledging then PLEASE don't tour Australia, rather take up sewing - I hear the "on-field antics" are much more subdued....

Granted, gibbs comments werent for the faint hearted. However, I feel that the CSA misunderstood the context in which they were used. Remember the Inzi incident in 1997? Right. Remember that because of the history of South Africa we have a tendency to slap a racial tag on any dubious event. I know this because I live here. Was the inzy incident called a racial issue? I dont think so... Everyone has a breaking point, and when gibbs got pissed of he didnt run in and whoop ass. Pakistan supporters need to be more disciplined throughout the world.

I think this punishment is not too harsh. I dont agreed with the comments by South African Coach that stumps microphone should not be used. But we should consider what Dean Jones had said about Hashim Amla it is not from Stumps microphone. If you are international player you should take the responsibility u r not part of the crowd. U are picked amoung the great south african nation. Be Responsible Gibbs

Its part of the parcel. That's how the Aussies and the S.African's play - mental disintegration as Steve Waugh called it.

Perhaps its time to learn to play short pitched bowling rather than dwell on comments on field. After all, Pakistani cricketers dont exactly set the standards in on field behaviour (expletives) particularly with their "preferred expression" related to "siblings" - a reference used to celebrate good times and bemoan worse times!

Its good to be physically & mentally strong in sports, but it should not be shown in any form of aggression on opponents. A true sportsman spirit is what players a lacking. Let the game be a game and it should not become a post bowling action of Andre Nel

Regards & Take Care

It looks like Pakistan are finding playing with grown ups a little harsh. I am sure that no such complaints would have happened if they won. Unfortunately there were no allegations of ball tampering, bad actions or any other cheating. The way that Pakistan treat foreigners is well known with very little respect. This is just sour grapes and the Pakistan team are playing the victim really well. THERE IS STILL NO EXCUSE FOR GIBBS COMMENTS AND THE PUNISHMENT IS WELL DESERVED

We have somehow overlooked the deeper problem that has engulfed the cricketing world ever since Australia have taken over the top position from West Indies. However great the current Australian team maybe but they are a blot on this excellent game of gentlemen. Their form of gamesmenship (I call it blatant cheating) is encouraged by the ICC and ICC appointed Match Rafrees (this is evdient from the very light punishments meted out to them if atall) and thus this is being followed by other nations as well.
Isolated punishments only adds money to the kitty and doesn't have any other effect. The current way of playing the game is 'do as the Austrlians do' if you want to win.
I think that ICC either should encourage the game to be played in the gentelmanly fashion or make it a 'freestyle' game and do away with this sham of match refrees.

Point well made and it does seem for the first time the boot is on the other foot for South African cricket.

In their last series versus India, Andrei Nel and Jacques Kallis were downright abusive uttering the "f" word with a frequency which would have made a Hollywood hunk proud. The lousiest part of it all was that Kallis lost his marbles because he could not get the No.11 VRV Singh out!! Nel anyway doesn't seem to have any...marbles that is!!

They were hardly even called up for a reprimand but Sreesanth was quickly hauled up and fined when he gave Amla the good-bye. Whether Amla is a good guy or not is immaterial but Indians were just giving it back.

The issue with the Match referees and Umpires when it comes to dealing with some countries is not about being racist or such like. In fact, it is about inconsistency, the bane of any profession.

Umpires and Match Referees and should report and act against any abusive language directed towards palyers, and the crowd. To swear after playing a bad shot, bowling a poor ball or dropping a catch is understandble as it is directed towards oneself.

As usual, the ICC does a sterling job in doing nothing!! They hardly want to act when it comes to cleaning up the game.

Good day to all, being South African born indian this kind of abuse is not uncommon at grassroots level in cricket and sport in general. South Africa as a country has done well to incorporate all cultures and races, but the few rotten eggs, Gibbs included, make it impossible to forget the past oppressions and tend to stir up emotions. Granted he and his teamn mates were provoked, but being an icon to some / many, his words were inappropriate and hurtful and Cricket South Africa should make an example that such behaviour will not be tolerated at any level in sport, in South Africa or anywhere else in the world. A mere slap on the wrist is not enough!!!!

Credit to Cricket South Africa and the Match Referee but not to the umpires. One more observation Graeme Smith made such an issue of his visit in Australia last year but turn around and do the same at their home ground, a bit too two faced to me.

this is utter nonsense. i DEFINITELY agree with the handed out to H Gibbs. He foul language and disrespect for human beings is DISGUSTING. His ban does not do justice for the offence he comitted. This is not the forst time that he has been banned. He was banned in 2001 on dopping charges and then he was also involved in the match fixing scandal in India.

I feel that a player with these attributes and character needs to be banned COMPLETELY from the game of cricket. Who cares about the sledging. That's ok and normal but when it's carried out to the extent that Gibbs did, it brings the entire game into disrepute.

i personally think the situation is being blown out of preportion. if you want to act like an animal then you will be called an animal. take for instance the matter when amla was called a terrorist would it have made an upheavel if lets say jaques rudolph was the fielder under the helmet? i believe we are looking for something racist in everything that is being said. i am from south africa and i believe what gibbs said was fair and just, it wasn't said because the supporters were pakistani, but to such behaviour in general. he shouldn't have apologised or gotten a ban.

Jag why are you dragging Pakistan cricket team here? Because the punishment Gibbs received isn't due to Pakistan cricket team complaining about his behaviour! Its due to what he said to the crowd. I'm sure almost every single player gets to hear some nasty comments from the crowd while they're standing near the boundary line but they don't get abusive in return. I think Gibbs deserved it and I just hope his punishment would teach other players a lesson.

Is Abassi seriously suggesting there was no sledging from the Pakistanis or is sledging in his opinion the preserve of Aussies and South Africans only? It's unfortunate that these "alleged" racial problems seem to follow Asian teams in particular and that much of the problem is orchestrated by Asian spectators with their overly-aggressive attitude. We won't mention the excessive appealing either, much of which borders on abuse of the umpires but remains unpunished. It's absurd that a spin bowler should pitch a ball a foot outside the leg stump and then bellow repeated appeals when a negative response is a certainty.

ryte. the coach needs to go as well or atleast warned. several times in the match andre nell approached the batsmen and uttered comments. at times i was able to make it wat was being said but the umpires and sorry to say one being the senior most did nothing. had this been done in pakistan against SA things would have been totally different. several of the key players would have been banned including a warning for the coach. racism and discrimination is not just limited to the circket field. it has found its ways into the elite controlling body as well. I do agree that SA players have been victims themselves of such abusive comments but is that suppose to mean that they take their anger out by passing on such comments onto other teams...?absolutely not. cricket is a game of gentlemen but i am really really really sorry to write that it has now become a game of everyone but a gentleman.

Jag, the moment teams like Pakistan or India "give back as good as you get..or get on with the game", they are fined by the ICC, who turns a blind eye to the vitriol launched on cricket fields by people like McGrath and Nel. Come on, I can't imagine any Pakistani behaving like Nel and getting away with it. Sreesanth was fined, when Nel was equally culpable. All of us play our cricket hard, till it is sought to be stamped out by people who believe that only the no-Asian teams have a right to display aggression and "play their cricket hard" whatever the heck that means.

gibbs desirve what he did...i hope SA check what nel was doing on the filed, he was playing like a school dropof bad boy....

This thing is being blown out of proportion. How can the term "baboon" be interpreted as racist? What if he called the Pakistani supoorters sheep, cows or wolves? Have all animal names now become racist? Surely this is going too far? We should stop this pettiness please! Yes, the comment was abusive, but definitely not racist. The race card is being played far too easily in the world these days.

Your comments are misplace Imran. Gibbs is not white.

And do you think the PCB should be fined because the pakistan fans were out of control?

As a South African who like a fair bit of the "formerly disadvantaged" population always supports the opposition when playing against SA, this further reinforces my view that while a lot has changed in SA since isolation, the mindset of many South Africans leaves a lot to be desired.

I wonder if the comments would have been differnt had the supporters been from England, Australia or New Zealand???

I do agree with Jag that taunts of any kind from spectators are uncalled for and should be stamped out.

SA spectators are not innocent either....I have seen unsavoury taunts hurled at Pakistan players in the nets at Newlands during their last tour of SA in 2002/03. Kamran Akmal at the time did well to ignore it.

We wait to see what Cricket SA will do about this

yes ICC gives a suitable decision to the person who involved in match fixing and other crimes. it is time to stop that racist to do so. why they r afraid from Australian supporters during their tour to Australia while their players do the same. i think CSA must give more penalty to Gibbs and make him example for others. World hear and see who is real "like animals" on the screen and the real "animal" punished. that's great. i would also like to say that Andre Nel can also be treated by same code of conduct and must be punished. thanks

Can someone please tell me exactly what Gibbs said that was racist. As far as I can tell he did not utter any racist remarks...perhaps rude...but probably not as "animals" is too kind a word for the fans in question. Also, before anyone jumps on the 'SA-whites are all racist' bandwaggon, please remember that Gibbs is non-white. Thanks heavens, or his career would probably have been terminated over this storm in a teacup. Finally, the ICC are a joke. They act with supreme speed over this minor incident but allow two drug cheats to continue plying their trade without so much as a one match ban.

Let met put it my two cents... I think punishment was rather harsh, and perhaps should not haven been considered under the racism law, but the obscene or abusive language law. For, how far are we willing to let the definition of racism go? What did Gibbs say, exactly? Did he say 'that group of Pakistan supporters are behaving like animals? Well, if he said that, my first remark would be that he perhaps should not have said that. It is abusive and not in the spirit of the game, but is it racism? I am not South Africa, but grew up there, and am currently lining and doing research into multiculturality in Holland. While this is not a reason to agree with me, I have thought about this issue a lot.

Racism, and discrimination in any other form, is deplorable and should be stamped out. But not being able to air grievances, or make distinctions is going to far. Gibbs did not say that all Pakistani's are animals, but that a portion that happened to be Pakistani were. Would he have been banned if he'd said the same thing about a group of South African supporters that were abusing players?

Racism is a blight on human society wherever in the world you go. But racism (or discrimination in a wider sense) is only racism (or discrimination) if it indiscriminately targets groups of people who happen to be of a particlular nationality, cultural background, sexual orientation, without an individual being judged as a person for his or her actions or utterances. If we agree that this is racism, then what Gibbs said was not racist since he was addressing a group of people behaving in a certain way. Choosing the term 'animals' was regrettable, but in the heat of the moment, well, ok.

Don't forget, before we all get to far up our high horses, that we all say things that look a whole lot like what Gibbs said.

Well said Kamran. I think more than half of the SA team should be banned from playing cricket. They deserve the treatment from the crowd whether it's Aussie or Paki. I just can't beleive that how umpires tolerate Andre Nel. Not every team has Srishant to nail him down.

If i was the captain of pakistani team, i would unleash shoaib akhtar on south africans!!!

what did gibbs exactly say

I fail to see what this has to do with Pakistan giving it back in equal measures, if there's one team you can count on responding ten fold, it's Pakistan, I fully expect them to turn the series around and win it 2-1. Don't change the subject here, this is purely to do with Gibbs' slur towards the aforementioned fans. Racism cannot be justified, ever, regardless what sort of profanities he put up with, he thoroughly deserved his punishment. I'm sure when/if Shoaib comes back, you will witness a prime example of "give back as good as you get" when dear old Nel, who purely sledges to make up for his lack of quality in certain areas, and probably because he has some serious issues, gets one in between the eyeballs. That will indeed be one to look forward to.

South Africa are probably the team with worst on-field behaviour of all nations. Even worse is their attitude to cry and make issues when they are at the receiving end. SA made a big issue of Aussie crowds but are trying to say that Gibbs made those comments out of anger.

To Jag, there is a difference between playing hard and playing cheap. I think most times SA fall in the second category. You could clearly see how the SA players behaved against India during the series. They are continuing to do the same against Pakistan. Would you see them doing the same against Australia?. Dare say, they wouldn't because aussies would humiliate them with their playing. Is SA a weak bully or do they have serious issues against asian countries?

As I recall they did this to the Indian team and fans too. The South African coach appeared to be condoning the action of Gibbs...et al. No doubt it was all a ploy by them to unsettle Pakistan. Which they did successfully. Arthur claims that no Pakistan player were targeted for the abuse, as if that is meant to be ok. I am sure when their fans are being subjected to such abuse within earshot of them, the team does get affected. I am fairly sure a stronger Pakistan team will put up a better fight in the next test.

pak's are plain bad losers. i wonder what could have happened if they did won the test?

You are correct, Kamran, that racism is the lowest level to which man can stoop. While agreeing that Gibbs' punishment is necessary - and apt - is it not time for organisers worldwide to take action against spectators who think that just because the players are in the middle of a field, they are deserving of abuse? They are not gladiators and most cricketers play their cricket with honour and pride. If any member of the public - paying or otherwise - thinks that the mere fact of the players being public figures attracts unpunished abuse, such member should be charged with a criminal offence and thrown in prison. And then do the same for the players too.

Dear Kamran,
I agree with you completely. the problem is much wider.. when India toured South Africa recently Andre Nel's outbursts and intimidating tactis were there for the whole world to see annd hear but when it came to punishments it was Sreesanth who was handed out one for his gesture of ridiculing Amla when he got out. where as Sreesanth deserved what he got, what about Nel? when indians were appealing exessively on the last day of the 3rd test the umpires rightly called over the captain and complained that exessive appealing leads to initimidating tactis.. fair enough but what about what Kallis and Nel gave VRV Singh in the first test when he went hammer and tongs at them? there seems to be a different set of rules governing Asian cricketers and those from S Africa, Australia NZ and UK.. its really high time that the ICC has a serious look at these instances..
if the umpires had controlled the players on field then i am sure the Pakistani fans would have not got down abusing the S African cricketers.. in Today's Times of india.. Sunny Gavaskar has made a shocking revelation about Barry Richards making similar racial remarks on TV.. saying that The South Africans are showing indian tendencies.. Shameful a comment coming from a celeberated cricketer.. If Dean Jones was penalised for his off the cuff comment on Amla what about Barry?
Its time that the authorities who govern the game come out strongly againts such practises and discrepancies when it comes to handing out punishments.. if they don;t something now.. it could boil down to a huge controversay.. because we Asians and especially Indian and Pakistani supporters are highly emotional lot.. when the said countries come to tour the sub continent .. the images of their bowlers abusing and intimading the sub continent players will not be forgooten by the fans and then they will have a torrid time while fiedling at the boundary in front of huge crowds here in the sub continent.

I think this whole thing is ridiculous, we are too quick to label people racist and use it to detract from the real problems. The decision to ban Gibbs is ridiculous, I really don't think justice has been done here. I go to many international cricket matches and am quiet perturbed by the amount of Indian / Pakistani flags that fly in South Africa when South Africa are playing these other countries. Where is ones patriotism? We are too quick to fault South Africa and South Africans but turn a blind eye to the injustices in other countries. Being a South African of Asian decent, I think its high time people stopped behaving like they are immigrants. To those Pakistani supporters in the crowd that caused the hassle, I have played against alot Pakistani nationals in South Africa and hence know how much you love your cricket and how good you are at it, however it is unfortunate that these few caused all this trouble. I would like to state that South Africa can't be all that bad, if so many people come here from all over the world to make a living, Pakistanis included.
My advice to you is support your team and your country, be part of the solution in this country and not the problem.

I am a kenyan of Indian origin living in Nairobi. I entirely agree with your view that Gibbs is part of a wider problem. Andre Nel's antics verge on a steep precipice. I even wrote to the commentators yesterday that it was appaling to see Paul Harris, in only his second Test, giving lip to Pakistan batsmen. Just to rewind a bit, the collective chatter of SA fielders during the Durban Test against India was nothing less than an ugly fish-market scene.

I am afrid the South African commentators also do not help. Their commentary is totally onesided and at times it is as if only one side is playing. THey need to be reminded that there is a thin line between patriotism and jingoism! I would like to forward that email of mine to you for your views. I should be grateful if I could get your email address.

Thank you

Sledging epitomises the way cricket is played today. Racist slurs can be curbed with more stringent laws. ICC,Please wake up!

This is a joke! Why is racism always involved? Those supporters were behaving like animals... end of story!It has nothing to do with racism! If Gibbs had made that comment about aussie supporters, nothing would have come of it. Please just get off this racism horse, it's so sad!

How extrordinary that it is always Pakistan, the team who reverses drug bans, the team which claims to have been mugged when they were infact visiting a brothel, the team who stands by while it's supporters hit a South African bowler over the head.
This is the team who is always whiter than white and totally innocent while every other team is at fault.
Gibbs was angry about the taunts directed at his team mates, but he did not go whinging to the match referee and make an official complaint against Pakistan (perhaps he should have) Every single time Pakistan plays here they cause trouble.
Please do not come back.

Did Gibbs actually say anything racist?

What exactly did Herschelle Gibbs say? No-one seems to want to publish exactly what was said but referring to people as animals because they are behaving atrociously is not a racist comment and does not amount to "hate speech". If it is then several of my secondary schoool teachers are guilty of the same crime, but of course they are the same race as me so it was perfectly acceptable. I am not saying that Gibbs was right, as an international cricketer and a representative of his nation he should have known better and I believe his punishment is warranted, however from what I have read and seen reported Gibbs was reacting to the crowds behaviour, not their race or ethnicity. This issue seems to have been blown out of proportion simply because Gibbs is a different race to those he was referring to. Have we truly reachecd an age where one can only insult people of ones own race? Surely by focussing on the racial differences in this case and not the true cause of the issue, unacceptable behaviour by crowd and player alike, the ICC is making the problem worse, not better. Is every confrontation between two people of different race an issue of racism? I'm sorry to say that if this is the case then those in judgement are themselves racist as they are unable to see past the races of those involved and deal with the true cause of the confrontation, bad behaviour.

Dear Kamran,

The South African players were verbally, racially and – in the case of the peaceable Makhaya Ntini – physically abused by spectators of Pakistani ancestry. This is not akin to verbal sparring between fielding sides and batting sides. To compare racial and physical abuse to the verbal (not racist or physical) sparring that takes place between opposing teams in world cricket is tautological and tantamount to comparing apples with oranges. And to compare swearing directly at an opposition batsman with swearing about the unruly behaviour of obviously disrespectful spectators? Give me a break.

The definition of racism as defined in the ICC’s code of conduct prohibits using "...any language or gestures that offends, insults, humiliates, intimidates, threatens, disparages or vilifies another person on the basis of that person's race, religion, colour, descent or national or ethic origin". To say, in a provoked moment of anger, that someone is behaving like an animal has nothing to do with that person's race, religion, colour, descent or national or ethic origin. If we want to get technical about the remark than surely it is speciesism (showing intolerance towards members of another species) as opposed to racism.

Seriously though, I think that this has all gone a little too far. Sooner or later our obsession with politically correct behaviour will take the very essence out the game we all love so much. Passion and fire are necessary ingredients and not unwanted by products of competitive sport.

Gibbs said "bunch of bloody animals" and "go back to the zoo"...excuse me, how is that racist? If Lara said that about the Barmy Army would he be banned? And yes Andre Nel's behaviour is at best a joke, at worst embarrassing, but vile atmosphere - come on Cricinfo, a bit more objectivity in what you publish please!!!

I believe South African cricket is a true reflection their society which is on the verge of its boiling point ...
While its commendable to see people from different religions and races playing together..
but at the same time the attitude of the south africans makes a mockery of this so called bright side of their society..

Last tour of Sa to Pakistan saw Andrew Hall getting into an ugly verbal brawl and it was stunning to see the captain Mr Grame Smith run from mid off and swear at Muhammad Yousaf..

Gibbs attitude and his team's behaviour too is a latest addition to this growin problem in cricket.
Sledging is one thing but arrogance and hate so evident in every Sa player is another...

I have many SA muslim friends and their tell tales also depict the same hatred among the whites of their society...
its despicibale and needs to be dealt with.

A hot headed and extra emotional captain like Graem Smith makes it worse.. Mark Boucher is one fine example of a settled and blanced personality.
Sa cricket need him , not lunatics like mr smith and gibbs.

It was indeed naive on Gibbs part to utter those words standing close to the stump mike. Having played a lot of international cricket, he should have been aware of the mike being there in the vicinity. Also if the words were only for his teammates, he should have waited till the luch break and said those in the dressing room, specially when the comment was made a few minutes before lunch. I feel cricket is not just about how you play it physically, you should be strong mentally. And Gibbs prooved that he is not that strong between his ears. Hope Andre Nel too gets his due one day.

Cheers!

This judgment and the punishment meted out by the ICC is scandalous. Spectators supporting the Pakistani team at the first Test behaved in exactly the fashion described by Herschelle Gibbs, for hours on end. This judgment implies that Test cricketers, plying their trade whilst themselves being subject to racial and offensive tirades from these louts, are not allowed to make any comment at all. What rubbish. They are human beings, like the rest of us, and they get angry and respond in the way most people would. Herschelle's only crime was that he was overheard. Malcolm Speed, Chris Broad and the band of ineffectual goons at the ICC should rather turn their attention to isolating the real racial abusers, the use of drugs in their sport, and consistency in umpiring.

I think the Ban for 2 tests s Justified, South africans are very vocal and sometimes say very offensive things during the play, this is not new
I remebre hearing very clear abuses directed at Pakistanis on the 3ed day through the Stumps Microphone. I cant write it here but did anyone else heard it as well ?

I'm not oopposed to Gibbs' two match ban, what he said, although possibly justfied in the context of his abuse on the boundary, should not be heard by young viewers.

However, as far as the other comments about the "South African Players creating a vile amosphere" are just ridiculous. If the same aggression were to be shown to the Aussies, you would probably commend them for the competitive spirit. I think just because there is a racially sensitive team playing against South Africa it doesn't mean that SA should change their tactics.

We play hard, and thats why we won. I can find no fault in that.

On Sunday I went to Centurion to watch SA and Pakistan. I was struck by the abuse which Pakistani supporters hurled at the SA team. For example, everytime a SA batsman hit a boundary, there was a round of boos and racial epithets. It was also cowardly because they found strength in numbers--what a lousy lot of louts!!! I even remonstrated with some that this was unsportmanlike and was similarly insulted. I fully sympathise Hershelle Gibbs and the Proteas..

Garth from Johannesburg

Now, Gibbs was punished because of comments made on field of play which were picked up by the microphone. Was he punished because he made those comments or because they happened to be heard over the microphone. If I suggested here that he might have been given a more lenient sentence had it not been caught on the microphone, would I be way off the mark? If I would not, then his being given a sentence whose harshness derives from factors out of his control seems rather interesting. To be fair to him and all those behaving with dignity on the field, shouldn't the mics always be uniformally on or off, and not reflect the whim of the producer. International sport is tough, and a lot of chat happens behind the scenes, especially in the vicinity of the pitch, and this byplay is an integral part of the storyline and has been from the Big Bang of cricket. Putting a microphone on the pitch may help in increasing the theatrical value of the sport but impacts the game by being too intrusive and reducing the byplay. Surely, everyone does not need to hear everything from the stump microphone. Yes, Gibbs was outed through the use of the microphone but the mic was not supposed to be on - what was the plan on catching the abuser (Gibbs here)? There must surely be other means of catching on-field other than having the stump mic broadcast uncensored. Obviously, all the umpires must have access to the stump mics, and this can be used to monitor and censure the players when things get out of hand. The TV audience does not need to heard the mic when the action is not on. In any case, in the interest of fairness to Gibbs, everyone who does the same thing as he does deserves to be punished as much as him, and so there has to be a consistent policy about this.
Also, isn't it just a little strange that the mic happened to be on just when Gibbs was shouting his mouth off? Surely he deserved his due and got it (or some part of it) but how come it was on just as he started his rant - Am I on a wild goose chase here?

Two issues - if you can't handle the heat, get out the kitchen. If pakistani batsmen find verbal agression so overwhelming, they should take up a less demanding sport.
On the subject of Gibbs - sadly, he is punished for saying what we all think - animals. Iyts not about race, its about louts that are a problem in every country Pakistan tours. Instead of finding ways of defending these idiots, Pakistani's will be better served condemning them and getting them out the game.

If Gibbs had used those words to describe the Pakistani team,then he should have been banned for more than two matches. However he made these these remarks against spectators who as he claimed were no better than animals as shown by their behaviour.This remark was said to his team mates . He did not shout it at the Spectators.Where is the racial slur? Why should the Pakistan team complain ?I think Gibbs got a raw deal.What do you think the crowd reaction would have been in Pakistan if South African supporters came to Pakistan and abused home players?The Pak team had no right to complain about Gibbs.C.Ramachandra,Colombo

Its all what we were expecting but also a lesson for others that look this is a genltman game and don,t indulge yourself in such racism matters. God created man and every one should respect eachother.Hoping in future such things should not be appreciated.

The sub-continentals have been a soft target for the umpires and cricket administrators, be it penalisation for appealing, over rates, ball tampering, displays of emotion or dissent. We all watch the game and are its students, but the "other" blokes - be they Australian, South African or English get away with near murder. It is all very well to say " as long as it is not abusive or racial it is OK" but taking a look at Nel or Klusner or even Pollock - it is/was NOT OK. certainly, being around the Aussies is not either.

Maybe the stump microphone SHOULD stay on if the administration is serious about clearing out the rot. Lets make cricket the gentlemans game it was - and leave the yahoo's for football.

I think the ban is ridiculous. It seems that what Gibbs said was to his teammates, and was directed neither at the Pakistani players, nor the spectators per se. The fact that the comment was broadcast is neither here nor there: all individuals are entitled to an opinion, and all individuals should be allowed to express these opinions in private, albeit that "private" is in the middle of the cricket pitch. How would the Pakistani players feel if a similar frustrated comment by one of their players were broadcast after being covertly recorded in a change room or bar? You don't need to be a lip reader to know that almost every player in the modern game uses obscenities on the field of play; I can’t imagine that worse is not uttered in private.

If we look at the broader picture some really surprising results will be revealed. No one can forget the auzi fans-sledging to Mark Boucher and other South African players, on their last tour of Australia, and reaction of all SA side can easily be seen in the papers next day. If one cannot tolerate bad behaviour from one then they should'nt involve themselves in a situation where you can easily pointed out by the normal people. Sledging is definitely a way which makes the game far more interesting but it should be used only to divert the temperament of the player and must be done within limits, and I am pleased that sports organisations are taking good care of it [e.g. FIFA slogan and now ICC and other association are against racism activities]. Action taken by Broad against Gibbs is a good example to set in the chain of events happened recently like ban on Dean Jones, ban on Darren Lehman, etc. And I'll end on a clarification note for "Sherry", we are living overseas and we should behave as we are the ambessadors of our country, when two teams come infront of each other one of them is supposed to lose but by setting a supporting environment as spectator we just build their moral and backup and InshaAllah if we keep ourselves in this way no one will look down on us and even after that someone do then its disgracefull and requires strict actions.

Thanx.
AH.
K

Not only GIbbs abused Pakistanis but Nel and Polluck were also using slang language ( it is not their first time.. they abused Indians in last tour too ) ...South african board should Ban Nel as well .. if they did not then in 2nd Test pakistanis will be be offensive .. akthar will shatter their heads .. i think Nel is considering himself a real fast bowler but he is just a medium pacer ... now 2nd test will be quite interesting .. cuz Yousuf, gul and Akthar are likely to play .. i hope they will give tough time to saffie players

Racism in any part of the world, against any team in the world should be banned.Sports is one of the few things where talent becomes the important aspect.Its so sad that someone as talented as Gibbs has put the foot in his own mouth.He should be treated harshly banned atleast for 6 months.I wonder why Darenn Lehmann,Gibbs are treated with a light punishment whereas Inzamam and sachin (Ball Tampering) where punished heavily,It doesnt look like a coincidence . Sledging in the name of aggressiveness(including Australians) is not acceptable. If ICC feels that they are here to protect and manage cricket they ought to step in
and educate the International players about ill effects which happens because involving in stupid acts

Not only GIbbs abused Pakistanis but Nel and Polluck were also using slang language ( it is not their first time.. they abused Indians in last tour too ) ...South african board should Ban Nel as well .. if they did not then in 2nd Test pakistanis will be be offensive .. akthar will shatter their heads .. i think Nel is considering himself a real fast bowler but he is just a medium pacer ... now 2nd test will be quite interesting .. cuz Yousuf, gul and Akthar are likely to play .. i hope they will give tough time to saffie players

It's typical that we slag our own as South Africans.Are we moving forward here or not,forget what was the circumstances before.Herschelle got his punishment & so did the fans evicted from the stadium,justice done,problem sorted.....MOVE ON!!! Agreement with Jag, its all part of the game and all teams sledge, comment and chirp....the only problem is that when it comes from the SA team,surrounding nations go into the history books & want to bring it back to life. Get on with sport as nothing is greater than any game itself. Lets face it, Gibbs is part of our quota so was it really mal intended. So as South Africans lets support the team and realise that they are not super humans, just talented sportsman and also have a personality that has anger, patience limits, irritation etc. Well done SA on your victory!!!!! Keep it going!

I thght pakistan should have played a better game after being racially abused.

I strongly disagree with Gibbs` suspension. He was stating a fact, the supporters were cursing and making monkey noises. Gibbs stated to his team mates that they were acting like animals. Now, were they or weren`t they? It`s irrelevent that they were Pakistanis as if they were South Africans making monkey sounds they too would be acting like animals.

I believe it is a reasonable comment that the current South African team is one of the most racially integrated teams around. Gibbs himself is of mixed decent and is unlikely to be truely racist. His comments (along with those of his team mates) were those of a justly angered group of individuals. This does not mean that their reaction is acceptable or should be tolerated; merely that the position that there is 'a deeper problem with South African cricket', is without basis.

The South Africans do play their cricket hard, and usually they play it fairly too. It is sad when the competitiveness spills over into abuse; but it issadder when a commentator of the game attempts to create a problem where one doesn't exist.

Paul

Kamran,

Does anyone really know precisely what Gibbs said? What has been indicated is that he said "They are a bunch of wild animals". I think that was directed at the spectators who were by all accounts were behaving like animals.
If it was directed at the Pak team or if he said something that was actually racist, then the two match ban is very light. But even as a Pakistani supporter, if the only thing said was "bunch of wild animals" to a section of Pakistani supporters who were not behaving in the true spirit, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

Lets get the facts clear before we all judge Gibbs on this issue.

The only reason H Gibbs comments were reported was because the stumps mic was WRONGLY turned on after the ball was delivered, allowing his jibe to be aired. It is meant to be turned down by the broadcaster after each ball...makes you think, how much racist sledging is going on without raising the ire of the public's eye..

The South African team has had numerous racists in their team. From McMillan to Fanie DeVilliers all the way to Gibbs. You don't hear cricketers from other nations racially abuse their counterparts. They obviously intimidate them verbally but not through racial abuse. Shane Warne is a great example...always at a batsmen or fielder but never has anyone complained about him being racist.
There is a difference.

Thanks for reporting this incident. I live in U.S.A and have played club cricket both in Karachi and in Houston. Any person who has played club level or higher cricket would be aware of the heat, intensity, wildness and pressure during a game. I dont agree with stump microphones 100% but they do make sense at times. As for the ban, i think it is not a harsh one. I wonder what would have happened if a Pakistani or an Indian player would have been in place of Gibbs and if this would have happened in UK or Australia. Double standards are everywhere and this is not a harsh ban at all. I dont recall any white player being banned recently in the last few years.

i think afredi want to one chance to prof the im playing very well he have three opction to play cricket he is allrounder i think he play under prectur is last time i want to see in world cup . i think he is a good opner hiter he play to 15 overs and score gos to 150 i think so plz give in a chance to rick the play in world cup life men rick to tu udhana padta hai .

Hi,

Well I would beg to differ with Jag here. Just because SA suffered racial abuse doesn't mean they have the right to dish it out. The south african problem might run a little deeper than just this.

On the recently concluded Indian tour, Andre Nel was seen sledging his heart out - even to Sachin and Sreesanth. The motive and logic behind this escapes me. Here's someone like Nel who is still a novice compared to somebody like Sachin trying to "unsettle" him. I'll be damned if it makes a difference. A wicket will probably force a closer examination - both personal as well as in the media.

When the frontline bowlers tell the tailenders - "I can smell blood" it's really quite unnecessary. What Nel hoped to achieve by saying that is anybody's guess. If your main bowlers do NOT smell a wicket - that would be surprising !!

Additionally, it does not make for good viewing. With little children watching, expletives and this sort of sledging might send out the wrong message. Pat Symcox was very right in asking that would you want budding talent to think that this is the way to take wickets.

There is also the fine line between abuse and sledging which makes it difficult to police. Different people respond differently to sledging. If you want to get abuse out of the game, get rid of the sledging part. Make all unpleasant exchanges between opposing players as violation of code of conduct. Then the umpires will have no leeway in their tolerance. Whoever sledges is out - irrespective if it's abuse or not.

I say this not because of the fact that subcontinental teams are the recipients - but because it breeds an attitude which might ultimately lead to the ruin. Gibbs has faced disciplinary action in the past as well. I wonder what message the CSA is trying to send out - no matter what a player does - we'll still play him in the team ?

I think it's worthwhile to remember that a snorting Holding bouncer and a raised eyebrow did more damage than a bucketful of expletives and being smashed for six over long-on by Sreesanth.

Cheers

Sledging should be banned altogether. The chief intent of sledging your opponent is to psychologically defeat them, so to achieve this end, players then become offensive, racial or other. Otherwise there will be no point in sledging if you say something that wont have strong impact on their emotions.
I strongly dislike sledging. I find it offensive all the time,even when its not racial. I come from Zimbabwe and I watch matches where all players will be black. Sledging undertones get to things like social, monetary and family status, backgrounds, tribe,and a whole load of other degrading bull. So people must not say non-racist sledging is ok. All sledging is bad. If someone wants to sledge there will always have something nasty to say, racial or otherwise. Sledging is against the spirit of cricket and sport. Stop it.

I'm really sorry, but is it just me that can't see any racism is calling people a bunch of animals that were acting like a bunch of animals? The other comments Gibbs said have not been reported anywhere - if they were worse than that maybe he deserved it. But if that's the worst he said, where is the line going to be drawn on what can be said? Are people going to banned for saying somebody is a nasty chap? What about an unpleasant fellow? Grow up people. This is still a man's game.

The completely unjustified banning of Gibbs underlines the racist attitude of the Pakistan Cricket Board and the ICC as Pietersen of England has made worse comments in the press without punishment, the fact that Pakistan are fielding two players GUILTY of taking performance enhancing steroids and that Asif was just as guilty of sledging only highlights the poor state of affairs on your own doorstep. Gibbs has done no wrong in this instance and his comments are justified, it is a shame that CSA feels the need to investigate it further lets hope common sense prevails and he is found to be what he is innocent of any wrong doing.

I guess that it would be pretty much easy for a few us to jump on the bandwagon and talk about racism, but do we all know as to was actually said?

All said and done, I would uphold the ban (maybe a bit too harsh) ... but not for the claims against racism but as a reminder to all players on and off the field that with the development in technology, their freedom of speech and action shall be curbed (a price of being an icon).

Has it not been thought that the behaviour of the crowds needs to be considered ... right since the unruly actions at Calcutta during the 96 World Cup finals ther have been cases of such incidents, put yourself in such a situation standing at the ropes...being insulted...you walk back to your mates ... would you say "oh they are just a few disturbed people who are otherwise sweet!"...come on.

It all comes back to each inviduals behaviour and attitude, no offence meant.

Peace
KM

The 'snarling persistent abuse' can be bad if the intention is to hurt and ridicule the opposition. But on the cricket field, these comments can be very pre-meditated, and not 'heat of the moment'. The sledging, if done with the intention of getting the player out, should be allowed.
If the 'abuse' were to happen off the field, on the street, that is unacceptable. but on the cricket field, its ok.
As far abusing the supporters, Gibbs should have controlled himself. professionals go out to win, no matter how provocative, retaliating to spectators is not right. Gibbs job was to play cricket. In that light, I'd rather he sledge one of the Pakistani players, than the spectators.

Unbelievable turning of a blind eye here. Fair enough to punish Gibbs for being caught, but persisting that he made a RACIST remark? Get off it! The issue here is that he used the word PAKIS. Forget about the f**** and animal part. He was punished for calling the spectators Pakis. This is exactly why no-one wants to play you boys anymore. Every game turns out a freak-show. Get your act together Pakistan!

Btw, whats all this about the "The behaviour of South Africa's players created a vile atmosphere" and "snarling--and persistent--abuse". Kamran, were you actually watching the game!?

I don't think that the real issue has been addressed here. This is really all about politics and not about sledging. We all know that sport and politics should not mix. What sort of punishment will be given to the unruly spectators? A two match ban? I think this is just about keeping a touring side happy and Gibbs is the scapegoat!!

My problem lies not with the ban, but with ICC's continued double standards. How does Shane Warne get away with calling Ntini 'John Blackman'? Yes, Warne did say the reference was not to Ntini's skin but to an obscure Aussie comedian, but the ICC's code is clear: "...any language or gestures that offends, insults, humiliates, intimidates, threatens, disparages or vilifies another person on the basis of that person's race, religion, colour, descent or national or ethic origin”. Warne's remark insulted Ntini. It doesn't matter whether the rest of Australia think Warne is a good bloke and Ntini is oversensitive. It doesn’t matter whether they all point out, but, gosh, Ntini is black, isn’t he??? What matters is that Warne made a statement that insulted Ntini, on the basis of his skin colour – he could’ve referred to Ntini as Dickie Knee, which I’m told is the character’s name. And in the same way, Gibbs could have referred to the crowd in a different manner. Gibbs and Warne made different comments, for different reasons, but both amount to the same thing: racially insensitive statements. Yet, Warne escaped a ban. Gibbs got a two match ban. Either ban both, or let both off the hook with a warning.

Its shame for cricket what has happened.

ICC has zero level torelance regarding verbal abuse or conduct "on the basis of race, religion, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin." Its good for cricket that Gibbs has been punished under this law.

It would seem that controversy, acrimony and general distaste seem to follow the Pakistan team and its 'supporters' wherever they are. Again and again they love to fly the racism flag and are perpetual victims. Thye have the most aggresive support base in world cricket and players have a right to respond under such provocation. Would Gibbs have had the same punishment if he had referred to English, Australian or NZ fans in the same manner. No.

Well done to CSA for taking action against the racial comments made, however it seems that SA are one of the only countries that takes action against there players for wrong doings(e.g. Hansie Cronje saga, doping issues).

A good decision by the Match Refree.

When others (Australian) did it to South Africans then it was racism and when South African (Gibbs) did it to Pakistanis, WHY NOT RACISM?

Ok, how is referring to a group of the crowd who are misbehaving as "bloody animals" racist? There is no mention of skin colour, there is no mention of religion, there is no mention of nationality. Some people in the crowd were behaving badly (and got evicted) and gibbs referred to them as animals. No idea where you got the racism in all of this.

South African here: I would also rather that the SA team beat the opposition with their mouths shut ... wouldn't that be refreshing!

Wahey! Let's all jump on the Racism Bus. Gibbs, for your information, is a player of colour in South African terms, he is not white. Since when is saying someone is behaving like an animal racism? Is saying that a person eats like an animal racism? Should all similes be considered as racism? Is "X sprinted after that like a cheetah" racist? Or "he showed the strength of a bear".
Yes it was a derogatory remark towards some rude and idiotic spectators. And please don't bring a regime that was ousted 13 years ago into the debate when the player concerned is coloured.

hmmmm!! Now a days playing Cricket is getting a bit tricky. All of the spectators don't only see ball and bat in your hands but also surveil whatever is on your lips. Surely which should never be over looked, specially by the Refree. Agreed Gibbs uttered something unacceptable but Why only him was punished? What about the all time big offence on the face of cric the aussies...poor gibbs was caught on microphone.. I wonder someone would suggest Southafricans to hire a lips reader in the 2nd Test to catch Pakistani players sledging. Finally to the Gibbs 'Your welcome but away from phones OR speak Zulu ;) coz the reactions are instinctive.' They say 'do, but dont get caught'

Before we criticize the South Africans for sledging, let's look at Australia first. They've practically patented the process. They should be condemned for sledging before any other country.

Not really Jag. The last time Shoaib said something to counteract Nel's mouthiness and Hall's physicality he was banned. And lets face it, what Shoaib had said paled in comparison to what Gibbs said

Wasn't this a veiled threat to the rest of the SA team about their on-field sledging? Gibbs is the scapegoat because practically any comment against a player gets ignored but a punishment for involving the crowd is a sop to demonstrate cricket's renouncement of racism.

Although I found the comment unacceptable, I don't believe it was a racial comment. I believe that the same would have been said about Australian fans or the Barmy Army had they treated the players in such a way. As Jag indicated above, it was the crowd that insulted Gibbs first. The supporters in question were upset because of the way that Pakistan played. This type of behaviour occurs in all sports around the world, especially games like football, and needs to be addressed. As you indicated in your blog, this can only result in a no win situation. How many slurs and insults from fans and players alike does it take before someone snaps back. Everyone needs to calm down.

Whatever happened to the gentlemens game?

I see that you're upset that someone finally said something about Pakistan supporters, the most odious bunch in the world. They have a higher proportion of morons than other groups and, like their team, can't stay away from trouble. I believe that Gibbs called them "a bunch of animals": well, he just spoke the truth. There was another group of animals who abused Sajid Mahmood last year, the type that drive around at Eid with the Star and Crescent hanging out of their windows. So hears some advice: stop using the words "gora" and "kala", they are not terms of endearment, and no, Makkah is not just next to Rawalpindi.

Yes, i agree with your article. Just look at A.Nel, and his antics when the Indians toured SA. Part of the problem also lies with our Asian teams. We take the abuse lying down. If we start giving it back, and avoid being cowards, then people like Nel and co. from foreign teams wont dare to do it. Its ridiculous that color is being used as a base for judging the punishment. When sreesanth gave it back to the Sa players, he was reprimanded, while Nel went scottfree and he is continuing his stupid sledging against Pakistan.
If you appear weak, You will be squeezed.
If you fight back, you are the winner.

Kamran, a very lopsided viewpoint! The Pakistani players are no angels when on the field. The reality is that all the teams do it. Please do not tar all South Africans with the same brush!

Why is Smith trying to accuse the TV stations for the microphones not been turned down. The spectators are taken out of the ground when they are caught abusing while they have paid for their tickets. The palyers paid for the matches and are hidden from been caught by keeping the microphones off. If the spectators are melted with one procedure, enen the players shoud go through the same law.

It's amazing that 99% of the persons agreeing with this idiot are also Pakistanis. Bad losers!!!It is known worldwide that your supporters act like animals and even your cricket players who love to cheat. How many times have your team member been banned for cheating or ball tampering??? Theres nothing wrong with a bit of verbal competition... Rather try and play better cricket....Sorry losers!!!

It is obvious that Mr Abbasi is smarting at the defeat handed out to the Pakistani's by the South African's. All national teams around the globe sledge their opponents in one way or another...it is part of the game. Rightly or wrongly it has been around for many years and I dare say will be for many more to come.
Clearly the comments made by Gibbs were accurate in describing the behavior of some very boorish people and should really only offfend the innocent animal sector who were linked to these idiots. Why people must always play the racism card to get their way is beyond me as this is obviously a desparate ploy by the Pakistani's to weaken the opposition by any means possible.

Shame on you Pakistan.

What Gibbs did was wrong. However i feel that and have witnessed it myself that Pakistani Fans in Eng, SA and Aus are a bit racist and can give teams a hard time.

Where as Pakistani fans in Pakistan, treat all overseas teams like superstars. Anyone remember when India came to Pak after a long gap, they were treated like heroes.

I feel that Pakistan as a nation is not racist, but Pakistani's living abroad are a bit racist.

The overseas pakistani fans need to know when to draw the line. There is no point saying that other fans do it to. Why should the Pak fans abroad follow suit.

I dont understand why sledging should also be allowed. In any workplace, bullying is a serious crime, then why not in cricket, after all it is the profession of those who are playing there, and by bullying you can potentially destroy one's career. Sledging should also be banned in cricket.

Couldn't be more opposed to Mr Akmal's claim that this is part of a bigger problem and the whole team is involved. That is a very narrow minded and quite frankly a rather pathetic synopsis of the situation. To pull the good old race once again, is getting rather tiring, when will people get on with the future instead of living in the past.

In my humble opinion there were no racist undertones in Mr Gibbs comments, and I can almost gaurentee that he been referring to an unruly section of the crowd that were exclusively white africans there would be none of this ridiculous aftermath.

One also needs to take into account the level at which these guys are playing at, and the degree of pressure which they are placed under in order to be successful. I wonder if Mr Akmal would be so kind as pinpoint one of the reasons as to why the Aussies are so damn good.... Apart from their skill it is their ability to mentally unnerve their opposition via the grand old technique known as sledging. It is part and parcel of the game, and as they say if you can't handle the heat get out of the kitchen.... Another simpler solution, turn of them stump mikes, as sledging has and always will be good for the game.

Definately think this entire matter has been blown out of proportion by a few overly sensitive individuals, who should rather be focussing on getting their team to play to their true potential rather than creating racial issues were none exist. To even suggest that the proteas sledging agitated the pakistani supporters is another extremely inept point from Mr Akmal, do you not think that they were just slighty frustrated with a rather poor batting display by the pakisatnis, the fact that there team were clearly second best in this match, or god forbid they were slightly intoxicated and thus required no provocation as they were indeed the aggressors.

Just a few thoughts from the peanut gallery!!!!

Have a good one,
Tim

I'm 'n proud South African who detests racism. It is tearing our country apart every day.

However, since I'm sitting in China at the moment I'm not fully aware of what happend. From what I could gather from the article on cricinfo, the fans aggitated the players and Gibbs then made the comment of "Bloody Animals". That comment has been made regularly in many different circumstancs around the world when people misbehave themselves. Except if something worse was said, the two match ban is harsh.

About the comment that Arthur made, he hasn't exactly had a lot of respect from SA fans since he started and saying silly things like that aren't really helping.

Kamran, you and every other cricket writer absolutely miss the point in this whole Herchelle saga. I did not perceive his commnets as racist but rather a description of unruly people. I think his comments would have been made regardless of race. I'm sure many South African players referred to the Australian crowds last summer as animals because people who abuse swear and insult others are "animals" if you ask me.

Trust me as a South African Indian, I know what racism is and what Herchelle said was not racist.

Since race plays such a vital part in the selection of national teams in SA, the players will have to cope with racist remarks from time to time. I am not supportive of the remarks, but I do understand the frustration of many supporters. This does not necessarily cover the behaviour of the crowd at Centurion, but players like Gibbs must accept the situation and get on the game. They get paid the salaries of celebs, so they will be treated as such. What would happen if Brad Pitt have to respond to every negative comment made about him?

Another point. The SA team may be shining at the moment, but lets remember the Pakistani's is far from full strength. The Indian also don't have a good away record, so the last few results certainly don't tell me that SA is plaing excellent cricket.

Graeme Smith is the most childish captain in the world. He certainly does not deserve to be the captain of the team winning the World Cup. Although I doubt if SA is capable of that.

I think that the ban is fair. I think that there is a lot of sledging that happens that is a foreign language to the opposing team so it is sometimes not noticed. We shouldn't ban Gibbs as we need him to win the World Cup !

Since race plays such a vital part in the selection of national teams in SA, the players will have to cope with racist remarks from time to time. I am not supportive of the remarks, but I do understand the frustration of many supporters. This does not necessarily cover the behaviour of the crowd at Centurion, but players like Gibbs must accept the situation and get on the game. They get paid the salaries of celebs, so they will be treated as such. What would happen if Brad Pitt have to respond to every negative comment made about him?

Another point. The SA team may be shining at the moment, but lets remember the Pakistani's is far from full strength. The Indian also don't have a good away record, so the last few results certainly don't tell me that SA is plaing excellent cricket.

Graeme Smith is the most childish captain in the world. He certainly does not deserve to be the captain of the team winning the World Cup. Although I doubt if SA is capable of that.

well ICC is full of ppl like gibbs and so are the 4 memembers NL, AU, UK, SA, if these four cricket bodies arnt quote on quote racists then why is it that 99% of the time they vote for one thing and rest of the permanent members of the ICC vote against them, so if cricket bodies have that kind of "attitude" then players like gibbs and ponting cant really do anything about their racial behaior, and yeah GO Yankees

So, if I tell a pakistani cricket fan to "go back to the zoo" for acting like an animal it is racist. If I tell my brother to "go back to the zoo" for acting like an animal, is that also racist? He is family, so possibly not, and he is a New Zealand European, so few would label me such.

What about if I say the same to my uncle, who is New Zealand Maori. Would that make me racist. Presumably, by the standards Gibbs has been held to. But what about if I said to my brother and my uncle together to go back to the zoo. Perhaps that would make me half racist. More likely the only acusation I would be guilty of is forgetfulness of the historical connotations of insults such as monkey and "go back to the zoo" when applied to non-Europeans by Europeans.

I certainly understand the historical signficance here of such terms and I am not trying to beliittle the ongoing struggle to stomp racism out of this world, of which the cricket pitch makes up a tiny portion.

Maybe Gibbs is a racist. Maybe he really does believe non-Europeans belong in a zoo, and maybe he only used those words because he was expressing his deep-seated belief that pakistan's fans should be behind bars eating peanuts and not sitting watching crickets. In which case he should be banned from the game and made to go live somewhere like ur, um South Africa.

Or perhaps he was just expressing his belief that the fans were acting like animals and that they should go back to the zoo. If he had said such things about Australian supporters, would he be banned today. If he had said such things about New Zealand supporters in recent years he would have probably been hailed.

This is the most insidious form of racism of all when such insults we would normally throw around without thinking get immediately labelled racist because they have been entrenched in our consciousness as such.

Context is obviously extremely important in this case, but as cricket fans we have only had access to snippets of Gibb's comments. Perhaps he is a racist, perhaps he is not. But sadly, due to the way this has played out he will forever have the label attached, and racists the world over can celebrate having had another high-profile sportsman added to their ranks.

If Gibbs really is a racist, the ban is not long enough. If he just made a hair-brained comment, no ban should be entertained. Either way a stronger comment needs to be made from the ICC, detailing why what he said was racist. Gibbs has been left to hang. They owe it to both him and the fans to show us the rope he has been hung by.

It is clear that the problem was the constant taunting and racial verbal abuse (and even physical attack) on the South African players. I cannot blame anybody for not being able to stay calm under such constant harrassment. The natch referee also clearly stated that the outburst was brought about by the constant verbal abuse of the Pakistani supporters (and it was not only those two that was removed)What I dont agree with is that saying some people is monkeys when they act like monkeys is racial abuse. There was no racial connotation. Irrespective of what race, if people act like animals, or act like monkeys, call them animals, call them monkeys, because by their acts they show that is what they are. To summarise: I dont believe any action should have been taken against Gibbs and much harsher action against the Pakistani supporters. I think the reactions will show that is probably just Pakistani's that will support Kamran's opinion. I do not see him criticising the Pakistani supporters conduct. Is he maybe identifying himself with their conduct?

SA Cricket needs to look at themselves, the shoe is now on the other foot. (If) They were subjected to racial taunts down under gives them no excuse to act in this mannor. Also, someone please put a leash or at least a muzzel on Nel as his attidue on during every over is a disgrace.

I don't why Nel is being left for whatever reason it might be.He is been carrying that from India series,instead bowling he keeps talking and provoking.I request one of the players from PAK to smash his head.I thought Sreesanth would smash him on that fine day but...,Roshan(match referee) was afraid to summon him for whatever he did and still he doin the same thing.And I don't think it gentlemen game.Is anyone listening?

I think the punishment for Gibbs was correct.
You must have a zero tolerance to racism. It was probably the ground authorites fault, they should have stepped in sooner and prevented the abuse to Harris and Gibbs.
On another point how Nel gets away with his antics is beyond a joke. The worst think his he is just an very ordinary bowler, as his match analysis shows.

Gibbs has proven by past actions he is not the brightest spark around therefore has anybody considered the option that he was refering to that section of the crowd as "a bunch of animals" had more to do with their behaviour than with their race.

Cricket is a gentlemen’s game, or at least it was supposed to be at one time. It is not the matter of one getting so out of control and shows such behavior such as Mr. Gibbs has shown, it is the mind set these so called ‘Caucasian’ descent nations have toward the other races. We from the subcontinent give such respect and treat these visiting western teams with such hospitality when they visit the subcontinent, which by the way is acknowledged by them also, but the treatment we receive while visiting these countries not only by their press, general public, also in the grounds, is totally outrageous and insulting, which is quite evident from the first test where one viewer could easily notice the arrogant and silly behaviors from majority of the SA players.

In response to “Jay” comment “The crowd incensed H Gibbs, not the other way around Mr Akmal. The reason the crowd were agitated was because SA plays their cricket hard not necessarily because they were being racists...teams like Pakistan have to be strong enough to give back as good as you get, or get on with the game.”
From his very statement, what does Pakistani cricket team had to do with the so called behavior of few disgraced Pakistani spectators with such bad taste. If that’s the case than every white person in SA should be accountable for what their ancestors did during the apartheid days.

Kamran,

While you are entitled to your opinion, I find your generalised analysis of the events that unfolded at Centurion deeply flawed and offensive. While no-one can condone the overheard comments made by Gibbs to his team-mates nor the behaviour of a few Pakistan supporters who were ejected from the ground for their trouble, it is wrong to suggest that this is "part of a deeper problem with South African cricket". The only inference that can be drawn here is that because of an previously oppressive regime - which few either side of the colour spectrum supported - all South African are and remain inherently racist. This couldn't be further from the truth and no country has addressed it's racial and religious problems with more zeal and transparency or success. I speak as a white South African, now working abroad, whose parents were heavily involved in the anti-Apartheid movement and who counted among their closest friends many of the civil rights and unionised members of the far left who ultimately landed up on Robben Island. Your suggestion is akin to painting all Pakistani people as racist because of a few idiots at a cricket match, when it is patently not the case and the majority are peaceful and cricket-loving enthusiasts. Also, do not confuse aggressive, in your-face-cricket - what Wasim and Waqar practised for many years remember - with racism. Another point, there is more than a little irony when, after Cricket South Africa had earlier announced their own internal disciplinary hearing would be conducted by a high-ranking judge, Pakistani officials took it upon themselves to complain to Chris Broad, the ICC match referee, forcing his hand when they had no need to get involved and effectively rendering the South African inquiry compromised. Surely, they should have left the South African authorities deal with the matter in the same way an internal PCB panel investigated and found Akhtar and Asif guilty of taking a banned steriod, although an appeal committee bizarrely overturned that decision. The PCB can't have it both ways. Finally, to question the conduct of the Proteas is laughable. Sledging/banter call it what you like, is part of the psychology of the game - just ask the two W's who were very good at it and a reason why Australia are the best in the business. It is up to the umpires to decide whether it is excessive or not and I believe Pakistan gave as good as they got. I note, too, that you make no reference to Pakistan's blatantly excessive appealing on the last day - putting unneccesary pressure on the umpires when the ball is no where near the bat or pad. Again this is part of the mind games that makes the contest so consuming. I look forward to your response.

First off, I am a South African. I was born in the apartheid era and have lived through the changes out country has gone under, so please unless you are from here and understand everything, leave that era out of this. Do not listen to what the media says about that, they twist stories to make them interesting otherwise, you and everyone else would not read their articles, watch the news and buy the papers.

Second, If this happened in Australia by an australian, the issue would be swept under the carpet and a slap on the hands for those involved, and NO, this is not a complaint, but fact - see the past.

Third, If the monkeys who ran out pathetic SABC television station in South Africa did the job they are supposed to do half as well, the microphone would have been off and this would NEVER have come up.

Fourth, everone now wants to persecute Hershelle Gibbs over something that was said. I can guarentee you the Pakistanies would have said much worse in retaliation to hearing Gibbs's comment.

Fifth, to bat a player over sledging, this is utter BULL. Simple, bar Gibbs, bar everyone. Then remove sledging from the game and we never have to play Australia again. YAY!

Six, sledging is part of the game, and surely if the umpires has a problem they would have brought it up. Did the umpires bring this situation to the public eye. NO! Grumpy, Old Men like Bob Wolmer, who couldn't stand loosing to his old team, ran to the public and started flapping his gums. Listen, Bob, You lost, face it. We loose and do not go running to the press with big problems that happened on the field. If anyone watched the Indian tour to SA Shreesanth and Andre Nel had a go at each other numerous times and this was NEVER brought up. WHY? Simple sledging is part of the game - tests your mental toughness. Remove sledging and you remove the challenge of INTERNATIONAL TEST CRICKET. Remove sledging, remove the crowds as well, they sledge. I know, I once told Glen McGrath to go "SHAG A SHEEP MATE"

Seven, I agree Gibbs was wrong, the crowd got to him. But, remember, we as the public can sit back and accuse everyone on the field of anything without knowing the full story. On the news that night we saw nothing about what the crowd was doing, they just went on and on and on about Gibbs. The media sux. They do what they can to destroy a person and then bitch and moan when they do not perform.

Eight, Pakistan are just trying to throw spanners in the works of SA, the same as Australia do. Pakistan need to wake up and realize if you play cricket like they did in the first test, THEY WILL BE CRUSHED BY ANYONE, YES, even Zimbabwe.
Play proper cricket on the field and leave the crap controversy alone. Are they so desperate to win, they want to emulate Australia.

Nine, if anyone knows about rascism in SA it is Gibbs. When he was first selected, all we heard in this country for months was that gibbs was selected on racial quota. The man went through a tough time just because he's a good player. Blunly put, Bob Woolmer is scared. Notice him when the TV cameras show him on TV, a pathetic attempt at a nervous smile.

NOW can we put this crap to rest and return to the test series.

Thank You

Gibbs is a human.why did not this happened in India series...was it because the crowd was polite? whom to blame...? public or the players...

Kamran does indeed point to a deeper problem in cricket - what is an acceptable level of verbal intimidation? The South African team use it as a tactic like most other international sides? Unfortunately, when it is visible to the public it is hardly an attractive sight.

Gibbs deserved his punishment. One trusts that the PCB will follow up and ensure that justice is fairly done, by identifying and banning the individuals who perpetrated the incident in the first place. I'm sure the persons who were ejected from the ground are now known to numerous people. If this is not the first time that travelling supporters have racially abused a home side, then one wonders why the PCB have not done anything about it. Soccer has managed to tighten up on this sort of behaviour. Unfortunately cricket needs to do so too.

I think that Kamran made some very valid and pertinent points about the behaviour of both Herselle Gibbs and some of the Pakistani supporters. Clearly Gibbs had to face some form of punishment for his unacceptable outburst. It was also right that the abusive imbeciles in the crowd were removed from the stadium.

However I think it is stretching credibility a little to suggest that the behaviour of Graeme Snith and his team in anyway contributed to the agitation of idiots in the crowd.

Part of embracing non-racism is accepting and tolerating difference. The reality is that both South Africa and Australia have a different cricket culture to that of other nations. It is direct,aggresive,upfront and brutal and yes it involves sledging. However it is the cricket culture of these nations and therefore to censure such behaviour is surely racist in itself.

2 points:
1. So-called sledging is out of control as has been demonstrated in the recent Ashes series and now here. Players are resorting to outright abuse and insult and have not been punished for it. Doing something about it should be a priority.
2. I wander how many racist insults in the crowd and n the field go unnoticed because referees and umpires do not understand the language used? We know they all understand English. It just occured to me that insults, racist or otherwise, often go on in the club cricket I play here in London but because they are in a languauge none of the white players really understand nobody gets upset...until afterwards when my team mates translate!

Hi,

Agreed - there is no room for racism in cricket - but maybe of Pakistan's fans were better behaved, things like this wouldn't explode in this type of aggression? I've never heard of South African tourists behaving so disgustingly overseas....we've had it in Australia where our players were abused by the crowds with racist taunts, but no stories of SA fans carrying on like children and hitting players with flags - so Gibbs should have known better.

Whey can't Pakistani fans act their age?

Gibb's comments can't be condoned, but remember that he responded to some pretty hostile and innappropriate remarks from Pakastani supporters

Well, it is indeed not good for cricket supporters to misbehave and trigger such incidents. It is sad to see that once a gentlemen's game has reached to stupendously low levels. ICC is equally responsible for this chaotic approach and the mess they continue to create. Umpires and Umpiring is no longer the same after the Hair incident. Field umpires cannot keep quite and tolerate. The match referees seems to be there for fines. Andre Nel is one character who is conistently getting away. Indian fast bowler Sreesanth was fined while Nel got away. ICC pro-actively practices double standards and it is time someone got them think of their role of protetcing the spirit of the game.

Gibbs and SA have gone too far. This is a sport, played for entertainment. And SA have take this way beyond. They forget that hundreds of thousands of young children worldwide watch them and idiolize them as their role models. These children are not stupid. They see exactly what is going on. And it MUST damage their morale and their confidence in their heroes.

As for SA, it is not only Gibbs who has gone too far but Nel as well. The way Nel charges at bastment, the language he uses and the antics he displays are totally unacceptable. Then I hear absolutely pathetic comments from the SA commentators that this is a "mans" game. If you want to do MEN STUFF the go fight on behalf of the UN against terrorist and get shot. This is a GAME. It should be played in the right spirit. Abusing, insulting, offending, humiliating and de-grading people is NOT the way to play this game. If I could have things my way, I would BAN Nel for life from ALL forms of cricket. He is an absolute nusiance and a disgrace to the game we all love so much.

Gibbs is a bit of a hothead and needs to be reigned in somewhat. The ban is generous.

While I disagree with the "f*&^%$# Pakistanis" slurr, I believe you should be able to call people acting like animals exactly that.

Guys ... fully with you on the ban racism ... but who knows ... SA cricket might find a loop hole soon that can vindicate what was obviously a bad decsion by one of there cricket players ... we may yet see him back in the near future ... Truth is drugs are no less of an offence!!

Seems that the racial problem has infused the wonderful game of cricket too. Lets not confuse sledging with the above. However it should not tolerated be it any team in the world. I guess mr.gibbs did not mean it but then again one should also realise that Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, and Bangaladeshi supporters are no angels either.

I agree with the ban Gibbs was given in light of his comments. I however disagree with Mr Abbasi's comments about SA players creating a vile atmosphere and hurling constant abuse at the Pakistani players. This was simple sledging and was not of a personal nature, if you cant take it get out of the playground.

I would love to have a translator available when opposition teams tour India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan and hear the abuse that players take on the field. When the home teams "chat" in their native language I am pretty sure its not about what they're going to have for dinner when they get home!

Oh please! Gibbs merely refered to a bunch of people acting like animals, as animals. It had nothing to do with race, everything with behaviour. It's rediculous that drug cheats like Akhtar are allowed to play, and Gibbs is banned for 2 tests for using a metaphor to describe unruly behaviour.

Pakistan must not let the chip on their shoulder make them too paranoid and think everyone is always against them.

i simply think kamran abbasi is only a teenager.

Gibbs ia rightly punished. but its not only him, other south african players are also involved. look what Andre Nel does. Passion to do something for his team is something to understand, but its way beyond and simply not acceptable. He should let the ball do the talking. His face expressions should be part of a comedy serial.

hi there kamran
i do agree south African players did cross limits but pakistan players also have some voices i have seen faisal Iqbal teasing and talking batsman before i dont know why was he not doing this time these are all tactics of the game calles cricket its no more a gentelmans game i do beleive with shoaib and yousaf in the team pakistan team would be mre energetic and vocal especially shoaib he doesnt give any respects on the feild to the batsman we need aggressors on the feild medium pacers cant be too aggressive i do beleive that these kind of racial comments are given by the aussies

I have said it many times before & now i am really fed up.When is the last time danish kaneria won Pakistan a test match.Again in this test match on a turning wicket,how many wickets did he get.none.Paul harris in his 1st test match was more effective & difficult to play.The guy who should be playing was sitting in the stands.(Mushtaq Ahmed).Bowling coach.he still has a lot to offer Pakistan cricket & he should have been picked as a player.The other Pakistani player that i am not to keen on is Faisal Iqbal.Surely pakistan must have better players then him.surely.

Dear Kamran ... wht have been given to H Gibbs Is very much rite he must have been ban ..and the should be looking deep about Nell As every one can see the way he reacts when get beaten by some one ..he strats bouncers and abusing the players ..making faces and stuff...thanks Allah Hafiz

We whole heartedly support Gibbs. It was another PC move and we believe the wrong person was punished, this is being used as another international soap box and people are falling over their own feet to condemn others for the very same thing they do. The question is; are the finger wavers pure as the driven snow?

The Pakistani supporters are the ones with the racial problems and should be banned from the two remaining games. This country does not need or want attitudes as they have.

If you're afraid of the opposition dont turn up for the game neither try to defile S.A. victory.

Gibbs comments were wrong, even though I believe he would have said the same thing had it been a bunch of white South African fans behaving in that way. But it was an ill-advised comment, and he has paid the price.

But Mr. Abbasi, I take serious offence at your accusations of "vile conduct" leveled at the whole South African team no less! There is a differance between hard, aggressive cricket and vileness. To me it seemed a good atmosphere, with the Pakistanis often sharing a smile with the bowlers, even with the often maligned Nel. Aside from the Gibbs comments you have no proof of your accusations. To me your article reeks of sour grapes and attention-seeking inflamatory writing.

Rainbow nation...Or Not...
for Jag comments,"SA play their cricket hard..."
The comment is racist and he need to accept it.

I do find it interesting how controversy and sensation dogs this Pakistani team where ever they play. Somehow they are always the poor victim. The Pakistani supporters behaved poorly and deserved the tongue lashing they received, if you behave like an animal you should be told so.

Rather comment on the fact that 2 confirmed dopers are allowed back in the Pakistani team by the PCB, now that's a disgrace.

If you can't take the heat Pakistani's, get out of the kitchen and get over your victim mentality while closing the door, Mr Abbasi.

Judging by the nonsense you have posted on this site during the last fortnight it may be time to take a breather.

A very one-sided opinion if I ever saw one.

You talk of racism as though it is a South African invention and that other teams/countries are free of it. The Pakistani supporters (as always, a minority) demonstrated that isn't the case. Instead of being so concerned with the image of the Rainbow Nation, perhaps you could spare a thought for the problems Pakistan has with its own neighbours and at times, the wider world. You see, we all have issues to deal with.

I think a bit of balance is needed instead of villifying the SA team. The ICC are right to take a stand in these cases, but they also need to come up with a strategy for managing crowds. It doesn't help punishing the players when the agitators in the crowd go free.

The irony of the Gibbs saga is that he himself would have been subject to many racial slurs as a person designated as 'coloured' growing up in Apartheid South Africa. With this type of background it is difficult to believe that Gibbs' comments were meant in a malicious way and he was simply maintaining the team unity by supporting his new team member, Harris, who was copping abuse from the crowd. I believe the ban is far to excessive.
I agree with Jag's comment that SA plays hard and only extremly sensitive spectators and players would view matters as racist. It is always a cheap shot to accuse South Africans of being racist and I feel that Broad has not help by taking such a hard line.

Gibbs comment was not racial he was refering to a section of the crowd that was behaving like animals it had nothing to do with colour, but people will always look for racial undertones in everything said to somebody different to ones self.

S. Africa and Australia are great teams but a great part of their game is the sledging, abuses, snarls, glares, gestures. Whoever said that cricket is a gentlemean's game? Watching the likes of Andre Nel would make you wonder about their upbringing, cultural background, general team discipline and the attitude that victory is all that matters. The umpires and match refrees should come down very hard.

Dear Kamran

It's all very well to say Gibbs should be banned - you are right,racism should not be tolerated. But your articles are always biased in favour of Pakistan. Perhaps you should attempt to move outside of your team. If the players cannot take the mental pressure, they should give up their spot for someone else.

While Gibbs' comments were unacceptable it is incorrect to say they are racist. Pakistan is not a race, it is a nation or a country. To classify is comments as rascist therefore is to deliberately raise peoples hackles using a well known buzzword.

Similarly, if someone says something against South Africans or Australians bases on their nationality, that is not racist. That is not to say that it is acceptable, of course. In the same way it is not acceptable to insult someone on the basis of their age, religion or class.

As far as the on field comments between players is concerned, the Pakistani's have to learn to put up with it and to find the mental strength to deal with it, s long as such comments are within the acceptable norms of sportsmanship. The on-field umpires have to be the judges in this case.

Andre Nel is a tough competitor, sometimes sometimes even embarrasingly so. He would do better to channel his frustration into more accurate and faster bowling.

I fully agree that racism should be stamped out.. but I am not at all convinced the comment "they're a bunch of bloody animals" has anything to do with their race.. The word "they're" in this sentence describes a group of fans insulting our players, not a racial group. I agree that Gibbs should be punished for verbal abuse, but not for racism.

Unless more was said, I'm afraid I just can't see why this is considered racism.

One should learn in this fast moving world that there should be no white / black / brown - coloured - one just needs to see celebritites like Madonna and Brad itt & Angelina Jolie adopting children from Africa..........High time the South Africans learn that they should leave as a single country post apartheid and see that the beautiful country South Africa is tends to remain same for its infrastructure / beauty and nature and above all mixed people still mingling together except for some hard core nuts. Pakistani fans also should control themselves.

I'm an Asian and when I hear news of this nature I'd be inclined to go "Serves him right!" But on this occassion I think Gibbs was hard done by. I didn't see the game but I can only go on what I have read afterwards. Unruly crowd behaviour whether its Pakistanis or not should not be tolerated. If the reports of racial abuse at Gibbs on the boundry has any substance I'd think that the crowd did act "like animals" and I don't think Gibbs' comment had anything racist in it. If I was subject to abuse like that I might make the same comment irrespective of what nationality the crowd was. If they did behave "like animals" I don't see anything wrong in saying it. Having said that I wouldn't put it past SAf players to make racist comments. They are well known to go to any length to get under the opposing players skins and while playing hard cricket on the field is acceptable, Authorities need to keep tabs on anything beyond that. Racism should not be tolerated on the field or off it.

The pakistani crciket board should also take responsbility of their own supporters.Racism is in the blod og the Pakistani people. If you place some more microfoons in the field In a match against India in Pakistan then the result would be that you have to ban 80% of the Pakistan Eleven. But what will the ICC do against the the agressief Pakistan supporters. I will be in the West-Indisch visiting the worldcup games and i also want to feel safe when teams and supporters playing against Pakistan.I would like to know if the ICC have also made plans to Ban supporters from the stadiums and also to charge them bye the law of the country.

Please get your own house in order. Your national team is a disgrace, full of cheats and liars. At least the SA board publicly agreed with the ICC, unlike the ridiculous pcb and their disdainful attitude towards the spirit of the game. To hear Pakistan fans accusing ANYONE of racism or injustices to the game is utterly insulting.

There is no justification for rascist abuse to enter dubious world of sledging. To excuse such behaviour by implying it was for the ears of my team-mates or initiated from crowd behaviour does not justify being a closet rascist.

If Gibbs had an issue with the crowd, why was it not reported to the field umpires. Secondly, the racial abuse meted out to the South Africans in Australia was down to their own ex-pats.

Thirdly, the only team which dishes and takes sledging is the Aussies. The springboks attempt to play their cricket hard, yet scream when at the end of it...i.e. Sreesanth much maligned for his reactive behaviour....what did he do wrong?

The pakistani crciket board should also take responsbility of their own supporters.Racism is in the blod og the Pakistani people. If you place some more microfoons in the field In a match against India in Pakistan then the result would be that you have to ban 80% of the Pakistan Eleven. But what will the ICC do against the the agressief Pakistan supporters. I will be in the West-Indisch visiting the worldcup games and i also want to feel safe when teams and supporters playing against Pakistan.I would like to know if the ICC have also made plans to Ban supporters from the stadiums and also to charge them bye the law of the country.

I couldn't agree more. I think the ban is extremely lenient. I am from the UK but live in South Africa and am appalled by the way Cricket South Africa have tried to cover this up and let Gibbs get away with it. I would like to think that if this had happened at a Test match in England the offender would be given a proper ban and hauled over the coals by the press. Contrast this with Rodney Hartman's deplorable column in The Star in Johannesburg - "He was offering a private view in between overs which was not intended for public scrutiny. The players were in their office, remember, but no one seems to care about that... Gibbs becomes the villain in the eyes and ears of the world. It is not right." Disgrace.

You have addressed a very pertinent issue regarding the behaviour of the South African team. It is hard to understand that a team containing players like Pollock, Kallis, Ntini, Prince & Amla can also have people like Nel, Boucher, Smith, Gibbs, etc. Whatever they do is cloaked under the garb of (natural) aggression whereas the same for others is categorized as code violation. It is high time CSA addressed the issue and considered appointment of a primary school teacher to teach them basic manners. Surely, they can afford to have one more addition to their already bloated team of support staff.

Personally, I think Herschelle was correct and the supporters abusing him were behaving "like a bunch of animals". If people want to be respected, the should behave like human beings. I don't think it was a racist remark, merely a statement of astonishment and fact on Gibbs' part.

Every team in world cricket sledges, thanks to the Australians - some just do it better and harder than others. I wish they would have the stump mikes turned up all the time - perhaps a world wide audience might embaress players into behaving with some dignity.

Some sort of punishment should have been given to the captain also.The conduct of players in the field is the responsibility of captain

Ah for goodness sake, sledging is part of the game and if the players can't handle it, retire, go home and dry their eyes. This is a game for men, not children, Aussies sledge, Pakistanis appeal for anything that hit the pad, even though we can see all 3 stumps, is that not vile too????

Throughout this whole affair, I’ve wondered... can someone please tell me how calling abusive supporters 'animals' is racist? They acted like animals, so they deserve to be called just that. What else should SA players refer to the as? Whether they are black, white, yellow, red, gray or whatever should make no difference - I hardly see any racism present in such a remark. (I should note though that I have not heard about other comments made. I very much hope that the 'animals' comment is not the primary issue. Otherwise it is an incredibly stupid verdict detrimental to the game, and yet another instance of reverse-racism.)

By the way, I find it completely unbelievable that the competitive nature of the SA side should be an excuse for supporters to racially abuse SA players. Despite that Mr. Abbasi claims that SA players' 'snarling' at Pakistani players should not be seen as an 'excuse', he still wants it to acknowledged that this 'contributed to the agitation', which of course is tantamount to excusing it. The further comments by Mr. Abbasi leave us in no doubt of which party he supports, but let it be known that the whole affair asks one central question - as it did in Australia not so long ago - why do nations allow such supporters to even enter a cricket ground? Is it because such behaviour is in fact even implicitly encouraged in a cricket-crazy country like Pakistan? I should hope not, but talk is cheap and I see far too little evidence of concrete actions to the contrary.

Okay, I’m being a bit rough, but I think this mess calls for it.

Has anyone actually heard the comments Gibbs made? There was nothing racist in his remarks per se. He basically says the Pakistani supporters are a bunch of animals who should go back to the zoo and that South Africa isn't Pakistan. I've heard racist taunts and that is far from one. The crowd was behaving in an unruly manner, abusing the south african out-fielders and it was fair comment for Gibbs to compare them to misbehaving animals. Since when was calling someone an animal racist? We're all animals anyway.

As mentioned correctly by JAG players are human too and can't operate like machines forever ignoring the immature abuse of the opposition fans, it all eventually has to burst out, as i'm sure many players do in private, Gibbs just made the unfortunate mistake of speaking his mind near a stump mic.

The SA coach is 100% right. What players say amongst themselves on the field of play should stay there. Gibbs did not direct his comments at anyone a la Eric Cantona, he didn't target anyone, he just said it aloud amongst himself and his colleagues.

Being a South African, I agree fully with your response and am of the opinion that the 2 test ban is too light a punishment for Gibb's. If one could translate the verbal gestures made by Andre Nel to opposing batsman, it would be an embarrasment to our rainbow nation and probably demand bans much more stringent than that metered out to Gibb's. In my opinion, there is still a measure of racism in the SA team and I see this by the gestures and mannerisms of players such has Kallis, Boucher, Gibbs and Nel. It is sad that the gestures of these players force me as a South African to support cricket teams other than SA. The cricket team needs to take a feather from the soccer team and represent the true spirit of our nature.

I would be interested to hear what the actual comments were. It is reported that Gibbs used a phrase like 'bunch of animals' if so how is this racist? That kind of phrase could apply to any racial group and does not single oy race or creed. We surely need to be careful that we address the the deep seated racism problems ( eg. lack of opportunity, different treatment etc) rather than go the way of a 'politically correct' reaction to comments made to a group ao team-mates in the middle of a cricket pitch!

I think SA Captain is part of the problem as well. Thats what he says on bbc: Captain Graeme Smith said he could not condone Gibbs' action".
Then he says "The worrying thing is that Pakistan always have a large support base around the world. Security needs to be looked at."
He surely is part of the problem. Somebody tell them that the aparthied is over and they can't continue with their racist antics anymore.

Being a South African, I agree fully with your response and am of the opinion that the 2 test ban is too light a punishment for Gibb's. If one could translate the verbal gestures made by Andre Nel to opposing batsman, it would be an embarrasment to our rainbow nation and probably demand bans much more stringent than that metered out to Gibb's. In my opinion, there is still a measure of racism in the SA team and I see this by the gestures and mannerisms of players such has Kallis, Boucher, Gibbs and Nel. It is sad that the gestures of these players force me as a South African to support cricket teams other than SA. The cricket team needs to take a feather from the soccer team and represent the true spirit of our nation.

Banning Gibbs for two test matches for racial slur is the correct thing to do. It was not an insult to the Pakistani sprectators but the entire nation. The match referee must also conduct an inquiry into Andre Nel's behaviour because he constantly sledges the Pakistani batsmen yet the umpires tolerate it! And yes, some Pakistani supporters MUST learn to act like human beings.

This is just a thought thats worth noting here but I think the self righteousness of this piece and the consequent highmindedness of the replies is full of delicious irony. In fact the entire situation is. What Gibbs said was inexcusable but in the same sense understandable if one has ever had experience of the kind of abuse a section of the Pakistani supporters hurled at Paul Harris. I have been to many games involving Pakistan and some of the behaviour of their supporters has made me sick to my stomach. If a player does well against them, instead of their fans congratulating him, the player is subjected to vile personal abuse. Ive seen it happen. Watching a Pakistan/India cricket game I could not believe my ears when I heard the kind of abuse that was thrown at the Indian supproters, it was extreme racism that even Neo-Nazi's would find offensive. It seems to be a group mentality thing were a few supporters become extremely agitated at Pakistan's position and resort to verbal abuse as a way of retaliating, in that context it is almost a primal urge and I have seen it taken to such extremes that I left the match I was watching because I was so disgusted. Look at the effigies burnt of Hair after Ovalgate, you're telling me Gibbs' "zoo" comment is more offensive than that?! The rabid support of some Pakistani supporters is unacceptable, it is racial, unruly, radical and has no place in the game. Gibbs made a silly mistake but his throw away comment was nothing in comparision to some of the abuse hurled at Harris on the boundary. Dont generalize on an isolated incident about racism in South Africa, that is not within your field of expertise, rather perhaps an eye should be cast over the radical element within Pakistani supporters groups and a plan made to stamp it out.

Shiraz and Imran, you guys are laughable. Imran, you especially. I agree with some of the other comments. The root cause of all of this were Pakastani supporters behaving like pigs. Gibbs comments were not acceptable, but they were not racist. He deserves punishment and any South African excuses are not acceptable. However, you all talk about race and it's sensitivities in South Africa as if you are entitled too. You are not, a small point to all of you, Gibbs is coloured. Unless I have missed something (which I may well have), his comments were more offensive than racist.
I think the context of the original post was more about sledging and not racism. To pin this as a wider problem of South African cricket is off base as well. There are a lot of other teams who behave in the same manner. Match referees and umpires are there for a reason and if they do not see the need for further action then let's get on with playing the game.

The aussies should be the first to be punished. to be blunt, we are afraid of white skinned cricket playing countries PERIOD. Otherwise what can you say of Shane Warne ?? If Gibbs' is a start then it is OK. Actually Sleging also should be banned. After all wasn't cricket a Gentleman's game ? Are there no more GR Viswanath and Zaheer Abbas's kind of people among the Geeeeeeeentleman (White) ??

Comments like this are common occurance on the ground in all forms, such as verbal and non verbal. The issue is the stump mike (kept on) which threw on-the-ground thrash to our drawing rooms. I agree and think Gibbs deserved to be punished.

Well whats new! One can see the double standards in the way ICC operates as well.. Sreeshanth says something he is fined, Andre Nel... well its just banter and good for the game.. Apart from this topic, another thing I saw was the no.of bad decisions against pakistan.,. are they supposed to be neutral elite umpires? elite , definately not! they are crap. neutral, I dont know coz the same thing happened against India as well.. they decisions are always in favor of non-asian teams

It has finally happened. The PC loving politics of today's day and age has now crept into the gentleman's game. The world has finally gone mad.

Isn't it ironic that the very people slapping all South Africans - now of all colours - with the broad racist brush, and the very same people bleating that all Muslims should not be slapped with the broad terrorist brush. I abhor both examples to the full.

It is too easy these days to play the racist card and soon - to all our collective detriment - nobody will want to listen to those crying wolf. If Gibbs had made the same comments about those boorish Australian fans when they taunted them in Australia would the same ruckus have occured? I daresay not. And one needn't be a brain surgeon to figure out why.

The South Africans played with grit, drive and determination, not once allowing the Pakistani side any respite. This is how good, modern-day Test cricket should be played. Have a look at the Australians; they have turned it into an art. Now this South African side, with four players of colour (one of them now ironically banned for racism), have come to the party and decided to get tough in a tough game, and the whole world is up in arms. C'mon Mr Akmal, let's leave political aspirations alone, and get on with the greatest game of all. And forget the flowery dresses at home - this game is for the srtong of heart, mind and spirit.

I'm all for matters of racism being addressed and punished, but this seems one step too far. The only allegations I have read or heard is that the words 'They are like animals' were used. Now if Gibbs used these words to describe Humans that were acting like animals, where is the racism in that? Why associate this with colour? His words describe actions not coloour. something is amiss in all of this.

Gibbs remarks reminds me of South Africa's history. They have some deeper problems with the race and color in the past. and that problem still stays in them. No one heard about the crowd comments. No one says anything bad in crowd, their is no proof and after all its the south afria home ground. But the only proof we got is that SA player Gibbs made the comments that showed SA team over all attitude. and that is very shameful.

The decision was good,what Gibbs said it is totaly wrong,thats way it will not happen anymore in rest of the game.thanks.

This is the height of absurdity. There is way too much political correctness ruling the roost here: Had Gibbs referred to similar behaviour by, say, Australian spectators as being "like animals", there would not have been a case to answer. But because Pakistan's management jumped into a situation in which they had no business, action had to be taken. To call the response over the top is to misrepresent it. It is hopelessly inappropriate. And, to cap it all, Gibbs is, of course, so-called "coloured"... and has been the victim of racism himself.
It's a joke, and those pompous idiots at the ICC AND CSA know it...

There is a fine line between "playing hard" and playing "fair". Cricket is losing much of its "gentle" side for this "hard" plays... just my thought!

Please can you elaborate on what the players said to the Pakistan players that cretaed "vile atmosphere." What did they say? Why was it more than sledging? I watched much of the game and I never saw anything "unusual".
It's not as if they were cheating by using drugs or scuffing the ball on their zip pockets.

I think the quote that Gibbs got done in for was "bloody animals" Why is this racist? The supporters, it could be argued were behaving like animals.

Right punishment for Gibbs.Do not forget he was involve in match fixing.These people are destroying the game of cricket.Now NEL another fellow should be punished for his not required
comments on field.

Maybe I am missing something, but I do not see a direct racist association in Herschell's comments. What I read in the press reports is that a comment was made along the lines of "they are animals" and "go back to the zoo". It refers to a section of the supporters who behaved disgracefully. Where is the racism in there? As far as I know he did not say "Pakistanis are animals". From what can be deduced that he was commenting on their background and not their actions?

Not that I argue that players should not be reprimanded or sanctioned for insulting sections of the public, even after having been on the receiving end of taunts and, according to newspaper reports, physical abuse. As professional cricketers they should stand above it. It is just that introducing racism where there is no clear link, and using this to impose a stiffer penalty, is wrong.

Lets be fair…Gibbs’s ban is totally ridiculous!!! Where did he make racist remarks??? The crowds were behaving as animals with no respect to players or the game it self… He didn’t say they were animals (not that even that would have been a racist remark, yes it would have been a derogatory remark and totally not acceptable), he said they were behaving like animals. In other words they were behaving without manners or respect for others…. If the South African team took sleging too far the, surely the umpires would have picked it up and would have taken action. My fellow countrymen in the crowds disgraced me, Gibbs rightfully commented on how they were behaving and now he is banned and branded a racist… REALLY NOW!!!! You might be able to go as far as to say Gibbs’s remarks were derogatory but call him a racist is really going to far…

I did watch (on TV) a great deal of the first test between Pakistan and SA.
I am not too sure if some of the Pakistani crowd was not reacting to the rant and perhaps abusive outrage of "crazy" Nel. I am astonished that the umpires did not take any action of throwing Nel out of the game. If Nel did that in, say, soccer, he would be out of the game.
I think the problem with Cricket is that it has not evolved fast enough from its colonial past when there were the elite (England, Australia and White SA and the weak NZ) and the ruled (India, the WI and Pakistan, before Sri Lanka and now Bangla Desh joined the major test community. Granted, lately, there are attempts at "balancing" but I'm afraid, not fast enough. How do you, otherwise, explain the dictatorial attitude of Hair in officating the final Oval test between England and Pakistan?
I don't agree with the notion advanced by the SA coach that certain comments -on the field - should best be left to the privacy of the players. If Nel's tantrums are not acceptable to man like me who watches the game from thousands of miles, I am sure they would be unacceptable to the crowd who are watching it live, and certainly, it should be unacceptable to a player, I believe was Younis Khan, at whom most of it was directed.
All such "uncivlized" behaviour is not Cricket. Whatever happened to the slogan "Cricket is a gentlemen's game"? Perhaps it was a convenient slogan when the colonial rulers dominated the game.

Salim Sachedina, Toronto, Canada.

SAs behaviour was evident in the series agaisnt india too. Non-stop.

Had no action been taken, whether right or wrong in Pakistani or any other nation's perspective (as you may now read views from supporters of both sides in this thread of debate), this kind of attitude from either side may have continued in the rest of the tour. The decision would definitely shake both the crowd and the SA team for being overzealous or 'arrogant' in their attitude! .... or else no one learns a lesson.

its very bad attitude for south african cricketers.I think GIBBS should have banned more then 2 matchs.

Since when is referring to people behaving badly "as animals" racist?

If it were Shane Warne in SA saying that the crowd hurling abuse at his teamates behaving like animals would that then be racist as well? C'mon get real.

I completely agree with ur views,Kamran.sledging may be acceptable when it only involves friendly banter but today it is used for intimidating the opposition by swearing and racist taunts. The issue is not confined to Gibbs alone., just look at what Nel had to say to Imran Farhat during Pakistan's second inings...

I agree with Jag, I do not understand how stating that a section of the crowd is behaving like animals is racist? This has nothing to do with their race, religion, colour, descent or national or ethic origin but concerns their behavior which was obviously pretty bad as two were ejected from the ground. As for this blog once again in this PC world of ours we do not make individuals responsible for their actions but blame it on the SA team for playing hard cricket!

Arrey yaar everybody know how the SAfricans, the Australians, etc., abuse us. Best soulution for this is let the stump microphone be ON all the time for viewers to hear. All the racists will be more worried about losing match fees and advertisment deals.

Usha Ballal, Mysore, India

Dear Kamran
Sad thing happened in the first test between South Africa and Pakistan.We Pkistanis have a great respect for South Aricans they are good cricketers and good representives of their country.We have seen in the past crowds in Australia and England passing such remarks.Cricket is a gentlemans game.It shows alot of character and patience which Gibbs couldnt show. I think he shouldnt have lashed harsh words specially when due to improved coverage facilities could be telecasted and were heard clearly on TV.The ban was simply unavoidable in such circumstances. We hope that this insident doesnt harm the remaining matches.

well said. this has happened during the India - SA match as well. Poor Sreesanth got fined but not Nel..I am not sure how international cricket tolerates A. Nel. For that matter, Flintoff, Ponting, Shane Warne are not far behind...

I was shocked when I heard the comments over the tv when I was watching the 4th day and, along with the commentators at that time, hoped that what I heard wasnt what I heard...but it was.

I've played some cricket matches myself and know how anger caused from various situations can cause you to react differently to how you normally do, but at International Level you should know how to control the situation around and not let it get to you, specially if you are not the person, in this case, being abused by the crowds.

I think it was a disgrace to both Nations - for the Pakistan fans in the crowd and the South African Gibbs. Sledging is important in a game of cricket to see which side has the strongest mind set...but there is line to be drawn! And there was and Gibbs has been punished for it.

i am an indian south african.this is just the tip of the iceberg.this is what we go through in everyday life in this country.people ask us why we dont support the proteas.imagine us supporting someone like nel!?
an insult to the pakistanis is taken as an insult to all indians
nanda

While I think the punishment to Gibbs was deserved, I wish to point out that South Africa is hardly the worst offender - be it their fans or players. I have seen and heard worse things on Australian cricket grounds.
Thanks to Cricket SA and the ICC for taking such swift and decisive action.

Kevin Maeka, from Harare, Zimbabwe

A typical anti-South African rant. South Africa is a FORMER apartheid country. It is now a multi-racial, tolerant society, where players of all colours (including, let it not be forgotten, the coloured Herschelle Gibbs) and creeds (witness Hashim Amla) play together. Pakistan's so-called fans are a disgrace wherever the game is played and its players cause problems wherever they play. Unlike India, who have just concluded a tour to South Africa which was notable for the excellent spirit in which it was played. Perhaps Pakistan's cricketers and fans should look at how Rahul Dravid, his team and their fans behave on tour, instead of whinging and whining about sledging (Gibbs was not sledging, he was talking to his team-mates), poor umpiring, and the rest of a sorry bunch of excuses. Likewise, the PCB could emulate CSA's firm response the next time a Pakistani bowler is found to be a drug cheat or ball-tamperer. Get your own house in order before hurling racist abuse at South Africa, Mr Abbas.

For the record, I am not South African.

Cricket used to be a gentlemen game and both players and crowed used to have excellent behavior, which is not the case now. I wish that this game should stay the old way but over the year this has changed first due to the fast bowlers behavior who started acting like a bully boys not in terms of their bowling but their behaviors. It is good that ICC has issued a code of conduct for the cricket to improve those behaviors. The punishment are always helpfull in reducing this type of behavior. I prefer that referees should also interfere if they hear or see such type of behavior in the field although Derrel Hair affair has provided new twist to the whole issue as they are the white coat men in control of the game, so they must be unbaised in their judgment.
The puishment is appropriate but crowed should also be monitored and the culprits should be thrown out of the ground and legal action should be taken against them, so that they do not provoke the players who are there to provide them entertainment. One should always look at the root cause of any such problem and these should be sorted out from its root.

In my opinion, the actions of Pakistani spectators were a direct result of comments and actions of South African players especially Andre Nell towards Pakistani players but anyhow I cannot justify their actions. Whatever they said or did cannot be appreciated and the stadium authorities did the right thing by asking those folks to leave. However, I feel that the reaction showed by Gibbs in this particular case was not justified at all and I feel that the defense used by him, his manager and captain is also shameful - that these comments that he made were for ears of his teammates - what about the Pakistani players that were in the field? What about their feelings? For what I can gather is that the SA team feels that it is ok to say whatever they want to Pakistani players as long as it is not heard over the stump microphone. This is abislutely ridiculous. I am also surprised that the Pakistani team has not complained about the attitude and comments made by Andre Nel after almost every single delivery - especially to Younis Khan. This matter should also have been reported to the Match refree and should have been investigated thoroughly. Anyhow, I hope that CSA can put some sense in their team before next match and they demonstrate professionalism and avoid racist and abusive comments towards others. South Africa should take concrete steps to discourage such actions given their history and they have a first hand knowedlege of racism related issues.

I agree with most of the sentiments expressed both in the article and in the majority of the comments.

The comments made by Gibbs were uncalled for and should be punished. However my main objection is that the stump microphones are simply left on during the game. Personally I don't want to hear the expletives of dissapointed players nor the more abusive sledging. Whilst these may form part of the game they should not be broadcast and certainly should not be part of watching the game. As I recall the umpires immediately spoke to Gibbs and possibly there the matter should end although, if as it appears in this case, a law is broken and further action required then the umpires should report the matter to the referee and the disciplinary process followed. So too should Nel and others have been called to order by the umpires and this process followed. I agree that racism or other offensive behaviour needs to be acted upon whether broadcast or not but I don't agree that these scenes should be played out in our homes where what should be pleasant entertainment will soon carry an age restriction for foul language. The broadcasters need to take responsibility too.

It is a sorry sight to see that teams from the so-called subcontinent(pardon me that itself is a derogatory colonialist expression) being the subject of oversledging indulged in by Andy Nell, Gibbs and his band of blockheads!The gentlemen in white as well as the match referee seem to be more than indulgent when it comes to tolerating such disgusting on-field antics!Pakistan had every right to complain and one appreciates the forthright manner in which the team projected this problem.

The ban imposed on Herschle Gibbs is good but I wonder why the two umpires, match refree, ICC and all those concerned with the game of the gentlemen are unable to spot the persistant bad-mouthing by South African fst bowler Andre Nell. Sledging has been used by the fast bowlers but to me Mr. Nell seems to have some serious problem with his attitude. He is no more than an ordinary bowler but pretends to be higher than Himalayan. He should be snubbed forthwith or shut out of the game because he is turning out to be more than a monster.

I think the incident has clearly surfaced the racist and biased attitude of South African Players and the arrogance of Gibbs is not padonalbe at all. Andre Nel , Smith,Pollock and company are representing a team which uses sleding as like calling names and that to a honorable country like Pakistan is not acceptable to us. One could also hear as he said "fucking Pakistanis" Now what is that meant? I think south africans have not accepted the post apartheid era and still living in the era where we used to see "Blacks and Dogs are not allowed" in the bar.
I think their behaviour in itself shows that they are themselves the bunch of animals.

The behavior of a section of the crowd at Centurion Park on Sunday was pathetic.The horrendous racist slurs directed at Paul Harris prompted Gibbs(a Black member of the SA team) to react.One does not condon what was said by Gibbs,but it was a knee-jerk reaction to the vile obscenities directed at his team mate.The punishment certainly does not fit the crime!
Those so-called Pakistani fans whose behavior fueled the incident should be banned from all cricket grounds in SA.

I think the punishment hand down wasn't really a fair call since it really wasn't a racist comment, he was just describing the fans that were harrasing harris, i'm pretty sure gibbs didn't even know their race so how could he be racist?

Mr Jag

however much the crowed incensed Gibbs there is no excuse. If he cannot control his emotions on an international Test cricket pitch he should not be there. If the crowd was too excesseive he should have complained to the authorities like SA did in austrailia not join them.

please dont give racists and excuse for their actions. and like you said SA was at the receiving end in Austrailia and i'm sure SA gave as good as it got on the field, but it still doesnt excuse the austrailian crowds behaviour as it shouldnt Gibbs'.

This is in response to the message posted by JAG. South Africa is a team that can dish out verbal abuse but can't take any (proven by Graeme smith on their last tour of Pakistan). I agree that sledging is part of the game but there is a thin line between being aggressive/in the face of opponents and totally disrespecting them. South Africa cross over into the latter a bit too frequently.

As for the test match, South Africa were brilliant. I don't see pakistan coming back into the series unless we get the likes of Muhammad yousuf, umar gul and even shoaib akhtar back into the side for the second test. Our bowling attack seemed totally impotent. We only had one world class bowler in the team and that was Asif. Whatever people might say, i refuse to accept that danish kaneria is world class. He is good and on occassions very good but world class he is not.

I think two test ban is not sufficient. SA and Australia specialize in unleashing slurs of all kinds on other teams. I am still shocked that Andre Nel gets away with what he does all the time on the field. I do believe that cricket is still regarded by ICC as a white boys game and team from the sub continent are consistent victims of discrimination and double standards

Since Gibbs made his racial remark in english, and it fell on mic, everyone understood, but dont you think asian teams makes racial abuses in their own languages inside field especially Shoaib Akthar and Co, who will punish them??? I'm not defending Gibbs but before Gibbs, many should have been punished.

If such punishment rules would exist in 80s or 90s, Javed Miandad would have a cutshort carrier

There is no hint of racism in referring to the fact that some unruly spectators were acting like wild animals. If it had been intended for the barmy army or australian supporters it would have been summarily dismissed. Its just ironic that certain teams evoke controversy wherever they play... I fully backed Pakistan in the whole DaryL Hair affair, but am beginning to wonder how wrong i might have been...

Get a life! The world has become far too hyper-sensitive and people can't think rationally any more. If you heard or read the simple comment, “They are behaving like animals” can you honestly know that such a comment was directed in a racial way? How would the reaction have been if it was the Barmy Army that was behaving poorly and Gibbs made the same remark? I guarantee nothing would have ever been said! Anyone – black, white, red, yellow, green, pink – anyone, who behaves in an unruly manner can be said to behaving like an animal. It is not the South Africans that should feel embarrassed.

Gibbs hurled those insults at a section of a crowd that was being abusive it seems he called them a "bunch of animals." How is that racist? How is that hurting anybody's religious sentiments? Its amazing how the subcontinent people keep on hurling insults at the opposing teams from S.A., Australia, New Zealand, England and even the Caribbean but if given the same treatment, they all cry racism. I have sat thru a one day match between Pakistan & West Indies where Pakistani fans were constantly screaming the "N" word at the West Indians. I suppose thats accepted behaviour. If punishments are being handed out, let them be handed out to everybody involved and not just to a selected few.

I disagree with the ban. If the crowd can't behave and treat the players with respect then I dont blame the players for re-acting the way they do. After all we are suppose to be civilized. I have noticed that the minute Pakistan are doing bad in a match their supporters become aggressive.

I stand next to my TEAM....through thick and thin.

Go SA

"The snarling--and persistent--abuse that South Africa's players hurled at Pakistan's players" ? What? I think you should take off your Pakistan goggles. The amount of times that Pakistan bowlers threatened to- or even did "hurl" the ball at the batsman's stumps was somehow also "persistent". I presume the constant threat of physical violence is ok for all the world to see? There was only one frustrated team out there....
By the way, Gibbs' comments were about the behaviour of the problem group of spectators, it had nothing to do with racism.

Andre Nel is one soul who has escaped punishment continously. It is a coincidence that the audio in the stumps were able to record Gibb's slur but no less serious is Nel's behaviour with the opposition team. His conduct is outrageous. Its high time that umpire's and match referee start noticing.

I was not clear on one thing about Gibbs' comment: was he referring to the specific fans in question or did he direct it all Pakistanis and, perhaps, by extension, all South Asians? There is a world of difference between the two. In one case, it is an insult to fans who were, after all, insulting them. And, in the other, it is a clearly and blatantly racist remark. I wonder if someone could clarify?

Are you for real Kamy? Of course we know of the underlining racism there is in SA cricket but lets not forget that the pakistan side are some of the biggest sledgers in the game and their constant appealing and putting pressure on the umpire when Kaneria is bowling is a disgrace. Lets just all accept that both these sides are as bad as each other. We have the racists of south africa against a team of cheats from pakistan.

I'm waiting for someone to explain to me which part of his comments were racist.

Reverse the roles completely. We're touring Paki and some south african supporters are acting stupidly in the crowd and Younis Kahn gets caught saying they're acting like animals. I guarantee you that the word "racist" wouldn't have even been heard by now.

The race card is being played FAR too often these days. They were compared to animals, because they were acting in an unruly way....behaviour comparable to that of an animal. End of story. No mention of race.

I'm pretty sure worse things were said of the Barmy Army when they were here.....never heard of any of that, why could that be?

I was at the game on Saturday and had a chat with a few Pakistani supporters who were a great bunch of guys. The SA fans have massive respect for the Pakistan team and its unfortunate that this incident of a hand full of people puts that into a different light. I'm sure the slurs by Gibbs were in the heat of the moment. He has been punished. Lets just leave it at that.

Hold on a second here...something doesn’t add up. Gibbs is a player of colour himself. Lets face it, he has been at the wrong end of racism himself while growing up. Would he be hauled over the coals for being in breach of the ICC's racism laws for calling a group of white SA supporters 'bloody animals' if they had behaved as our supporters had? I doubt it! Unfortunately, the powers that be are once again oversensitive and quick to pounce on any incident that can be misconstrued to be remotely racist just in case they may come across as complacent.
Herchelle was angry at the way a certain portion of the crowd had abused, and indeed tried to injure, members of his team, he reacted verbally to his team mates calling them ‘a bunch of bloody animals’. I am sorry but to me, there is no reference to race or religion but to the fact that animals behave in this manner with no respect for others…and that is coming from a person of Pakistani dissent.
In my opinion, this is a witch hunt performed by individuals trying to right the wrongs of the past hoping their actions are noted in order to glorify themselves. This wasn’t racism, this is a man (of colour himself) describing the bad behaviour of a few people that just happened to be of Asian dissent. If they had been white, not one person would have complained.
And just in case any of those individuals brandishing pitch forks and flamed torches are crying racism on my part, I am of Pakistani dissent, BORN AND RAISED IN SOUTH AFRICA studying in England and I support Pakistan. I am not biased in any way, but have the benefit of living on ‘all sides’ without the chip on my shoulder!
Shame on those that choose to ban Gibbs, and shame on those who are too closed minded to see this for what it is.

As for sledging? If you cant run with the big dogs, stay on the porch! Everyone does it, Pakistan have the mental strength to mix it with the best both verbally and cricket wise. Funny how the people complaining are not those fighting it out on the playing field but those people off the field of play, maybe they’re there for a reason!

Thanks for a great website and for allowing a forum to express ourselves and our different views.

Tahir Malik

What Gibbs said was no stupid, regretable, unprofessional, etc. but not racist. The level 3 offence carries a 2 to 4 test match ban, and would be reasonable if his comments were racist. They were nothing more than tasteless observations, and no doubt no worse than other comments passed on the field. A fine or max 1 test ban would have been appropriate, but to call it racist and make it a level 3 offence is absurd. Mr. Broad certainly over-stayed his welcome, no wonder the Asian test playing nations voted him into early retirement.

Paki spectators are a nuisence in every part of the world - Like in Australia other countries must have strict laws for spectators and if caught must be banned from entering grounds in future - remember the Paki spectators taunted our
very own Inzi in Canada so unless they are kept behind bars (like in India and Pakistan) they behave like animals !!! (but Gibbs cannot call them animals).

The decision was a good for H Gibbs got a approiate slap on the wrists. We must not however forget that it is the nature of cricket that there will be sledging but racist comments have not place in cricket. Lets just play cricket!

i dont understand what the big deal is over gibbs calling the pakistani supporters that were swearing at harris "animals" and telling them to "go back to the zoo" the fact of the matter is gibbs called them animals because they were behaving badly, it's not an insult based on race its an insult based on behaviour and i think that the authorities have completely misjudged the situation

Excuse my ignornace but does anyone monitor what the Pakistani's are saying in their language? I seem to remember many times last year that on certain forums, fans were confirming repeated comments from Danish Kaneria heard on the stump microphone to Kevin Pietersen as "come on white boy" in his native tongue, yet this was never brought up, presumably because most of the watching public don't speak Pakistani (excuse my again as I don't know the name of the language)

Sorry, I think there was a typo in my earlier submission, what I tried to say in the 1st line was that "What Gibbs said was stupid, regrettable, unprofessional, etc."

Agree with much of what Abbasi has written: but to brush off the behaviour of Pakistani fans so lightly is quite surprising. For many of them, attendance at cricket matches is more a matter of faith than a sporting event. It is for them as solemn as going to a mosque and what we witness is a deeper problem with the need to wear their faith on their sleeves. They are equally bad in England and elsewhere : a loss is an insult to the faith especially when they lose to Infidels.

SA were right to highlight certain sections of the crowd that racially abused them in Australia. However Jag if the excuse was that SA play hard cricket how come they have played poorly for the past couple of yearsand are a middle ranked Test playing nation ?

Racism is part of the fabric of all nations but ibbs of all people should have known better. How do we know that other racial epithets haven't been used toward players on the feild after all Mickey Arthurs said what happens on the field should stay on the field.

Racism is racism there are no excuses

The only report I have read was that Gibbs commented that some of the spectators were behaving like animals. This is surely not racist and it seems to be accepted that some of the spectators were ill-behaved to the extent that they were evicted from the ground. On that basis banning Gibbs for two test matches appears very harsh

It is very difficult to judge Herschelle Gibbs without knowing exactly what was said. All I have heard is that he referred to supporters who were hurling abuse as 'animals' and that they should be in a zoo. Offensive, maybe, but how is that racist in any way? Hooligans do behave like animals, after all. Did he make some other comments referring to their race?

Well Kamran , you have raised an absolutely valid point .There are two standards in world cricket - one for Asian teams and one for Goras.

I must have missed many of his comments as the only one that I read was in reference to them being like animals. Surely this is in reference to their behaviour and not their race. Was their behaviour animal-like? Clearly there were many other things that were said that weren't printed.

Kamran why is it that any time an Indian or Pakistani is insulted it is all of a sudden racist. Those spectators WERE behaving like animals, in fact that's an injustice to animals. As far as the on-field sledging goes, let the umpires deal with it. But just because it's chirping doesn't make it racist, my friend

nonsense...it wasn't racist.

I think it was the right step to ban Gibbs, cricketers are professionals, representing their respective countries, they should be more careful in controlling their emotions on and off the field. I also think that Nel should also be observed carefully/closely as he offends alot as evident by few closeups from recent match.

My apologies to Mr Abbasi for calling him "Mr Akmal". Unfortunately, I took my cue from the posting above from "jag". Getting someone's name wrong is unforgiveable for any journalist, even a former journalist like myself!

"SA themselves were subject to much racist taunts from crowds in their last tour of Australia" Not this old line again ??? How many Aussies can speak Afrikaans ? They were subject to racist taunts by EX PATS living in Perth !!! I'm tired of these accusations by the media and Graeme "All Talk, No Action" Smith. Both of whom claimed that Monty Panesar would be subject to such a torrid abuse of racism that his tour downunder would be an absolute living hell ! Well what a load of BS that turned out to be .... Monty was the #1 favourite of the Aussie fans, both he and KP can play for the Aussies anyday !!!

Racism cannot be tolerated and obviously Gibbs needed to be punished,whatever he intended, as the cricket field today is a stage. Kamran is niave if he thinks that the South Africans are over the top in their sledging. Cricket at this level is as much a mental game as a physical one, the good players manage to shut out opposition comments. Incessant appealing when the ball clearly pitches outside leg is also not part of the 'gentlemans game', but then anyone who remembers those days is clearly delusional, or has never played cricket.
Kaneria almost proves this - he certainly has a high level of skill, but does not get inside the head of the batsman nor does he positively influence umpires like Shane Warne. Until he learns to dominate the stage with his presence he will remain a good but not great bowler.

I know that the Aussies sledge a lot but I have never seen an Aussie bowler being as provocative as Andre Nel or Jaques Kallis who both swear obscenities to the Pakistani Batsmen. SA must re-look at their behaviour. Yes the game is tough but your character needs to be impeccable in the gentlemans game. Gibbs neede to be punished harder

Jag you and the lady have probably totally missed the face and body languages Gibbs let others watch throughout their fielding. Dont just ignore the masses who watch cricket with close focus of sports channel. thats no matter of single statement but media spectators who saw him on screen abusing Pakistani players on each second ball. Was that something else which no other cricket fan can understand than SA and you 2 ppl. Dont say excuse of playing cricket with strong/ weak team is what agitating SA to blurt out whatever they can. if thats the case then opponent should have equal right of abusing right on their face as well. Either SA was abused in Australia doesnt give SA right to do the same with utmost honesty. Cricket is for everybody who loves cricket. Unruly spectators were those too who poured open Juice packs on Aqib Javed in Banglore and Kolkata. Can somebody remind me the year!!

yes Kamran i hate racism like most of us right minded people. i myself am of mixed heritage so i understand racism in its various forms. Was Gibbs' commment based on the behaviour or race of the crowd? would he have been banned if he called the abusive aussie crowd animals or for that matter the lager guzzling barmy army? i think not.

Bit sour in my opinion from Kamran. The ban was correct but saying the SA abused the Pakistan players beyond sledging is unacceptable. Are you trying to say that the Pakistanis did not sledge at all as well beyond to what they could do. What Gibbs said was not racist at all...people who swear at people like the Paki fans did are animals regardless of their race , gender etc. Reporters just like to sensationalise things and that's what Kamran is doing. BIASED!!!

What an embarrassment on the ICC due to the complete power the asian countries have over the game. Hershelle Gibbs described the section of the Pakistani crowd as acting like a pack of animals, due to there non acceptable(yet it was accepted) and grotesque abuse of an inexperienced(28 years old but in international terms) national player, and what a assessment it is. Gibbs should not have even been close to a reprimand but because of the power that is weilded by the asian nations a team member of a western nation is vilified, questioned about his racial morals, embarrassingly made to retract on his comments and banned from the game he makes his income from. As usual it is made out like the asian countries are always the victim and are treated like an endangered species. The Pakistani supporters should have been fined, ejected and quite possibly banned from attending international fixtures in the future. All the talk during the ashes series reguarding venues was the absoulute intolerance of any sledging of players and the threat of fines against racial abuse. Australia learnt its lesson after the South African tour with tight new measures introduced and the test with the ashes crowds in mind were passed with excellent crowd behaivior and friendly interaction with the players. Monty Panesar become one of the superstars of the summer, but with a genuine feeling from australians, and this a player with a strong asian background and the same situation for Sajid Mahmood. Gibbs is firstly a genius, one of the most brilliant players of a generation(strong words from an Australian too) but too a person of colour, and it should be remembered that he in all likelyness has suffered racism, it would seem strange that he would racially slur a pack of Pakistani's, with the harshest comment being his statement that they were a pack of animals, the ICC should look in there own backyard before concluding hershy is a racist

Gibbs deserved this punishment.Racism is the worst thing that could occur in International Cricket.Gibbswill get a very fitting lesson in this regard after this punishment.The action of ICC is appreciated here.Let us play fair Cricket.

Jag says The reason the crowd were agitated was becaus SA plays their cricket hard, .....he carries on..teams like Pakistan have to be strong enough to give back as good as you get" Well Jag I suppose the "Hard" criket SA plays is evident by their test ranking, Pakistan is number 3 SA is somewhere down the bottom, I suppose with enough slurs and sledges to take the oppositions mind off the game, they will get to top 3 eventually.

Pity this article is so one sided. Asif had a lot to say to the South African batters as did a few other Pakistani players.Gibbs was wrong and has been punished. A few others on both sides could have also ended up in a hearing. You basically are saying that the South African players are all racist and the Pakistani players are all Angels. Pull the other leg it has bells on it.

Although I think from what I heard, a tiny section of Pakistani surporters were abusive. The ground officials DID chuck two offenders out of the ground. So something was happening. That being said I find it rich from the South African camp complaining about the ICC's ban on Gibbs. I watched a lot of the SA/India series and the stump mike was on the whole time and the behaviour of the SA team was at times awful. Personal jibes aimed at the Indians were the order of the day and it has continued against the Pakistanis who are a very competive side and tend to fight fire with fire.

Cricket SA better wake up fast to this problem. I am not saying they should be choirboys. After all this is competitive as it gets in sport when you are playing test cricket. But some players in the SA team go way above acceptable heckling. Andre Nel sometimes has no control of his outbursts which are oftern personal. The captain appears to condone all this and I know a few South Africans who find the team's behaviour out of order. They seem quick to point out other countries misdeeds, notably Australia. But when they themselves are caught in the act they come up with comments like you can't handle the heat. And this has to be said usually this is said against Asian sides.

The treatment Gibbs & co got against by some Pakistani surporters was poor, but the SA team response was worse and CricketSA have clearly a lot to do still with the attitude of some players in our national set up. This is going to damage SA cricket if it is not addressed. Let us hope this doesn't ruin this tour for as far as I am concerned the Pakistanis, both team and fans, are most welcome to bring their special cricket to us.

I'm sorry but I totally disagree with your article after all what did Gibbs say that ? "They're a bunch of animals" thats not racist thats just pointing out the fact that a group of people abusing another person are idiots no matter what race or religion they are. Worse things have been said to so called "white" supporters and no one ever got upset - I do agree that there is no room for racism but lets not get silly if someone is abusing you you have a right to defend yourself no matter what the colour of their skin.

Let's not forget it was the drunken, abusive spectators who started the problem...

And let's not confuse this incident with the sledging between players, which is another matter entirely...

And I hardly think Gibbs' comments, foul-mouthed and ill-judged though they were, come anywhere near racism...

I'm not suggesting he should be let off, but the degree of censure and the sanction imposed should be far more appropriate to the level 1 offence that this clearly is.

Kamran refers to the sledging by the South Africans as 'The snarling--and persistent--abuse that South Africa's players hurled at Pakistan's players went some way beyond sledging', does Kamran watch Shoaib Akhtar, desperate to show he is a genuinely scary bowler by constantly getting into 'conversation' with batsmen ? If Kamran has a problem with the SA sledging and says it needs to be addressed than it needs to be addressed globally, no team is innocent of sledging.

Just accept it as part of the game!

If the fans who abused the South African players on the boundary were acting like animals then Herschelle was simply observing a fact. That is not racist, although the way he expressed it was vulgar, especially with respect to the swearing. But show me someone who doesn't swear when he's angry... The South African team consists of whites, coloreds (Herschelle), blacks and Indo-Pakistani descendants (Ashim) and must be the most multi-racial team in world cricket.

My question is: Are these people supporters travelling from Pakistan (who I cannot imagine would be so ugly towards our players) or 2nd gen Pakistanis living in SA with no sense of loyalty or style?

It is unfortunate what has happened and not right but everybody who opens there mouth against Gibbs can answer this question. Have YOU ever made a unfair comment about anybody else whether religious/political? Be honest, examine yourself

I think everyone unanimously agrees that there is no place for racism in sport or society in general

The first thing that needs to be acted upon is the abuse the players suffer from these so called fans. The Pakistani fans that abused the South African players and apparently even hit one of them need to be condemned and banned from attending sporting events. I even think if they have been identified then legal action of assault should be taken against the individual(s) who did this. These people are not Pakistani fans, they in-fact are not even cricket fans because if they were they would appreciate the talent of these players.
As fans of the opposing team you don’t have to cheer the opposition but that doesn’t mean you have to abuse them either. This therefore is the first thing that needs to be rooted out of sports as reactions from players to certain sections of the supporters is often initially incited by abusive and intolerable crowd behaviour. Players can not always turn a blind eye or pretend to be deaf when this amount of un-necessary abuse is directed at them...and what exactly for.....doing their job!!?

The second point I would like to make is regarding the behaviour of South African players towards their opponents.
The behaviour of some and in particular Andrew Nel was appalling. Cricket is a tough sport and requires players to be tough physically and mentally. I am all for sledging but even that has to have a limit. Yes… two sets of players are competing against each other but at the same time these teams need to have a healthy respect for each other as professionals and more to the point as human beings.

Some of Andrew Nels outbursts were well out of order and I applaud the Pakistani players for staying cool and not responding in the same manner

One of the comments above suggests that Cricket is a mental examination as well as a physical one and Pakistani players have to deal with it. I agree with this but only to a point. It is a mental examination in the sense that players have to deal with different pressures within the changing situation of the game, keep concentration levels in order to perform, dealing with certain expectations etc… BUT NOT to put up with verbal abuse from fellow professionals. As I said sledging is part of the game...but only to a limit where it does not get racist or abusive.

The type of sledging that I condone and what I think is acceptable and I would even say adds a certain amount of character and humour to the game is the one displayed by Flintoff towards Tino Best of the West Indies when the latter was batting. I’m sure most of you are aware of the incident I am referring to.

I admire Andrew Nel for his commitment to South Africa and his aggressive nature in bowling but he does not need to follow through after every delivery with a torrent of abuse to the batsman. Most fast bowlers are aggressive and that is part of their armoury but the actual manner in which they display this aggression needs to be checked.

On a lighter note…perhaps someone should tell Nel that very few of the Pakistani players probably understand what he is saying anyway.

Just have a look at the names of those who wish to crucify Gibbs,and then decide who is racist

I think racism is not limited to players only; it extends to referees and the umpires also. During the recent India-SA series Andre Nel kept on behaving like uncontrolled bull by sledging every thing 'brown’ in sight on the field. Through out the one- dayers and the tests no umpire or referee raised a finger. But in the last test when finally Srisanth decided to give it back to him suddenly the umpire remembered that cricket is a gentleman's game and a complaint was lodged to Dravid against Shrisanth. Now, isn’t racism of the worst kind??

As a black South African I do not condone what Herschelle did. I do understand though. I was there, at Centurion Park. The Pakistani supporters went after the SA players from day one. It is a miracle that he was the only one who cracked - and that it took him four days to come to that. The situation was not good. Shame on you Herschelle, shame on you Pakistan supporters.

Naan

Pretoria

For all his faults, Hershall Gibbs -for rather obvious reasons, is not likely to make a racist comment. he called the supporters "....animals".
i can't see any race connotation in that. Any badly behaving set of supporters risk getting called that and probably deserve it.

Verbal abuse of any sort should be outlawed in cricket. It is not ok to sledge, be abusive to another player/umpire or spectators. The sooner ICC sort this out the better it will be for cricket, otherwise we will go down the same path as footballers where F'ing at umpires will become the norm when the umpire does not give the required decision.

I just dont understand one thing even Gibbs accept it that comment he made were racist. As a professional cricketer Gibbs should have shown sportsmanship but i guess he went out control with croweds remarks. Ban for 2 Test is good one. Next time he will know how to react when it comes to racism.

I was looking at Graeme Smith's reponse to Gibbs actions..i found it very weird what Smith said was that pakistanis have a broad support all over the world and the security should be tight...wht u mean by that?? wht about thoese south yellow africans fans when they go to england and australia and do sh** all over the cities. thanks God america is not a cricket playing nation or we would have thoese freaky thin accent south yellow africans come over in our town in america and do c**p.

As a South African I'm more ashamed of the thousands of SA supporters that allowed the Pakistani supporters to get away with it. I promise u it will not happen in Cape Town or PE. I urge the Pakistani supporters to try it again.

Racist comments from cricketers have always been a part and parcel of modern cricket. The very fact that it is an unequal world underscores the tension that is present when two fiercely competitive teams are at the middle. What is intriguing is that erstwhile sledgers and abusers have occupied international satellite TV network commentary boxes and are now preaching better behaviour. Before this recent series of Pakistan, the Indian team were subject to a lot of tongue-lashing by known offenders from the South African team, Andre Nel for example. But it was only Sreesanth who got fined.

This ban imposed on Gibbs too is at best a white man tokenism, aimed at ' ensuring' that everything is fair in the world of cricket. If the data on similar punishments is tabulated, many offenders would emerge from the non-white teams in comparison to the WASP ones. Such eyewash surprisingly is continuing even when the Indian sub continent is singularly responsible for keeping this white man game alive all over the world with its fanatical crowd support, energetic media coverage and above all eye-popping sponsorship and media valuations!!

I take a vicarious pleasure alright but I suppose fans need to take on the erring players in the middle once a while to prove that they are human too and immune to the diplomatic positions taken by the ICC big bosses.

What Jag has indicated is good, but meaningless. Remember - under ICC's unwritten laws that are meticulously followed by its adjudicators, if Indians / Pakistanis / Sri Lankans sledge, they are indulging in behaviour that brings disgrace to the game & must be penalised. However, the same or larger offence from cricketers of England / WI / SA / Australian origin is OK.
Remember - the same ICC that banned Inzy for 4 one-dayers on a charge of showing dissent to an umpire's decision & bringing the game to disrepute have taken no action against Brian Lara of West Indies who BLATANTLY abused ICC's umpires on the field when baby Brian wanted Dhon's wicket & umpires gave India 6 !
Was Lara's action not showing dissent ? Was Lara by showing such dissent not bringing the game to disrepute ?
What is worse - ICC have ignored formal reminders from me questioning them about why no action was taken against His Highness Brian Lara, and the adjudicators who chose to take no action against Mr. Lara.

That leaves us Indians & Pakistanis believing that ICC's tournaments are meant as a show-case where ICC-favoured Australia, SA, WI & England must win by fair means or foul. Their cricketers may show dissent as Lara did, abuse cricketers of other teams as Gibbs did. Look at the SA manager's comment - ban the stump microphone. What happens with that - If Pakistan complain, Hooligan Gibbs from SA can be assisted by umpires who will feign ignorance to the entire incident.
Unfortunately, the presence of the mike has meant that the umpires cannot lie .

I'm no fan of sledging, and I really would like to see it toned down a lot (Andre Nel is close to shameful). But, this is different. Those supporters _were_ supporters from Pakistan, they _did_ behave like animals (no offence to animals), and they _should_ go home. So now we're upset with Gibbs because he said so.

I think it was not a cool thing to do. The S.African's should behave like a host team. But may be its not common in that part, that when someone individual or group come to your country, how you should treat them. Its not only about the game, but its just presenting yourself and your country. It matters a lot....if one think. Its not about winning or loosing, but behaving.

I dont know what "racist" remark Gibbs made but i think Pakistan Cricket team is becoming too soft under Inzi the Cuddly Bear! We should fight fire with fire. Ask sreesanth how he dealth with Andre Nel.

I want to direct this on to the Jag's comments!
Being the victim of racist comment in Australia does not give South Africans the authority to pass the same on to Pakistanis.
Allow me to say that the next logical step after sledging is racist comments. If you allow sledging to continue, you are gonna end up with these kind of issues.
Why do you want to make cricket, a gentleman's game, soccer.
Peace to all!
Azfar Shahzad

It's shameful really. The spirit of cricket is in very poor shape indeed if such things are being debated at all.

Racist taunts have no place in cricket, or life in general. Sledging is a healthy part of the game, we all had a laugh at Shane Warne and Paul Collingwood's exchange (also captured on stump mic incidently), because it was good, clean, witty sledging.

The punishment should stand, and some further investigations need to be conducted, to ascertain the apparent need that certain players (in many nations) have to vilify opposing sides based on race or creed, and stamp it out quickly.

All this debate over the place of stump mic's etc. is all very reactive. The problem is still a problem, even if it's not heard by the masses.

"teams like Pakistan have to be strong enough to give back as good as you get.. or get on with the game" It's attitudes like this that fuel the flames. Why should anybody be forced to put up with racism? And furthermore, why is it that only the Pakistani team should be offended by racism? The issue here is that the ricket watching public around the world were offended. This incident went far beyond sledging, into something entirely more ugly.

A sad day for cricket indeed

Why is that racist and why is it that it has to become a racist coment. The problem is people in the media such as yourself that turns petty instances like this into one of race and it is you that should take a look at your self and not judge others. If this comment was hurled from one South African to another it would be offensive but not racist, like wise in the case of Pakistan. The media I am afraid are the ones looking for a story. Please get the facts straight and not every incedint has to be about race!!!!

I think these days,its is part of the game.Pakistan miss players with atitude like Javed Miandad,wasim and waqar.You need to have atitude and strong enough to compete with Australia and SA,you need to give it back to them,look direct in their eyes.My advise to the Pakistanis,please start drinking some beer or wine like Shoib Akhter then no one would dare to do that to you ever again otherwise keep losing!

Great Article.

Previously SA themselves were complaining about Racist ramrks from Australian crowd but now they are facing same Racism in their homeland too, that means there must be something wrong in South African Cricket team.

Why every one attack only SA team or Why not any other team?

Or

SA is the only team who is making hue n cry of this.

-Peace!

hats off to SA for this short sharp shock to Gibbs and to the Icc in recognising the gravity of this offence.However the irony is not lost as this was against Pakistan, a country not noted for equal or (even cival) treatment of its own women ,let alone its minority groups ! Do whats worthy of thee and not whats worthy of me. Also why do so many Pak players use the religious card as a prop? eg; yousef wants to be captain of Pak so bad he cant utter any comment about cricket without a quick mention of his faith!

Offensive, yes, but racist?

I don't understand how calling a roudy group in a crowd "animals" is related to whatever race they may be.. surely it's a comment on their behaviour.

I guess, it was in the heat of the moment, I feel he was provoked into making a rude/racial statement. Needless to say 90% of human beings would react in a similar way. Neverthless, it definitely calls for an action from the authorities, though I would say Gibbs should be asked to apologise to those few spectators and even those spectators should make a public apology to the south African team.

Does anyone know what Gibbs actually said as there are different versions. I have heard "bloody animals" and if this is correct how can it be construed as racist as he has not mention race, colour or creed. If it is something else I would love to know exactly what.

We must remember that Gibbs is a so called "person of colour" himself so how can we call whatever he said racism. If one Pakistani called another Pakistani a "bloody animal" would it be racist or just an insult. If he said the same thing about Australian or English supporters would it be racism?

We know he definitely retaliated against the scum who started the insults, but it was not a racist remark.

"Cricket - the gentlemans game?"
Never. Spectators & players of sports such as rugby, soccer and baseball are passionate people. Are cricketers and their spectators any less passionate? Emotions, tempers, adrenalin all run high and excuse the pun sometimes reach "fever pitch" level. Gibbs just voiced his opinions to his teamates (who are all of different colour and backgrounds). As regards sledging just watch a group of 8 year olds playing the game - they're no different to our senior players barring a few colourful adjectives. Too often remarks are construed as being "racist" purely 'cos someone of a different race made them. You could go as far to say to different countries playing against each other is racist! These guys get paid handsomely to entertain us. we're not watching chess. We're watching the greatest game invented. I enjoy seeing two countries battle it out - sixes, fours, quick singles, wickets, outstanding fielding and of course the odd bit of controversy. Cricket has lost some of its most colourful and charcterful players in recent months... I don't want to miss anymore.

PS Was your recent blog of a certain Pakistani cricketer being better than a certain Australian a racist remark?

Dear Jag,

cricket is just a game. We need to think in broader terms than just playing hard. After all, international players are seen as role models by many younger people. They should behave themselves accordingly.

I remember a Germany footbal star - if I am not mistaken he was captain of the team - "Stefan Effenberg" being dropped from national team when on zenith of his career. He showed his middle finger to a taunting group of spectators. The decision was very hard but it gave a indication of ZERO TOLERANCE for any misbehaviour. He was never allowed to return to international football....

Cricket is a gentlemen game and it should remain as a gentlemen game. Any attempt to destroy the spirit of the game must be discouraged. I totally agree with the decision of match refree.The atmosphere on ground should remain decent all the time and to do so strict actions should be taken by ICC.

I do not think anyone yet has all the facts to pass judgement on the Gibbs situation. For me a bigger problem is Pakistan! Why is it that whenever and wherever they play there seem to be issues? As an neutral outsider this is a real concern - one which Pakistan should be big enough to look at themselves.

In my honest opinion the remarks made by Gibbs were not racist at all it was simply a harsh statement by him brought on by the taunting from the crowd. And the comment was regarding their behaviour, NOT their ethnic background!
If the same comment was made in a test match between Aus and NZ for instance and a section of the NZ crowd were called a bunch of animals, it would merely be taken as a comment of their behaviour and nothing else.

The fact that it has been taken to such an extreme is in itself a discrace and i just wish someone had the chance to say it. Everyone is so scared of colour!

Whats the worse crime -
1) a South African player passing a comment (using some colourful language, admittedly) to his on-field team-mates, about the disgraceful behaviour of the pakistan supporters or :
2) TWO pakistan players using performance enhancing drugs ?
The SA player cops a two-match ban, and the drug-taking pakistani players walk away scott free!! Its an absolute joke!!!

Gibbs is an impulsive sort of character at the best of times....some may recall a ball thrown away before it was under control - and at what cost !!...ouch! I wonder if there is any way of controling this impulse. That's not to say his behaviour under this influence should be allowed; it can be very hurtful in some situations. I must say I am fed up with the nonsense that goes on on the field in the 'honorable' name of 'sledging' many of the players and worst offenders don't know where to stop, and now the young followers of the game are getting first hand exposure to what they now believe is fair game. It's not! and those who believe that youngsters should tune this part of their game should move to baseball !

Spare a thought for those coming into the game and the only top class example they have to follow !

With Gibbs' heritage, he ought to know better than to adopt a racist line. His captain also needs to review his stance on how his team should behave on the field; they clearly need to be reminded at times. The instruction must be clear and forceful that they are there to focus 100% on the game, and when they're 'sledging', they risk blurring the focus !

At least he will have a little more time to consider how he is going to get his rapidly departing form back !!

Media intrusion and political correctness is forcing a bland world onto us. We put stump mike in place so that we can hear controversy and then we slap down the provacateur as though we were all perfect citizens. Our common self righteous hypocrisy is appalling. So now there will be no talk near the stump mikes and a piece of the social nature of cricket is lost. When last did a "spokesman" ( or spokesperson now) say anything challenging or controversial. We watch talented sportsmen and women because they are exceptional not because they are model citizens. Lets accept the expression of human emotions like anger and joy as part of the game or remove our access to the folks who entertain us.

You said, "it does expose a deeper problem with South African cricket." What about Pakistani cricket? None of the Pakistani players stepped up to stop their fans from abusing SA players and fans. Pakistani players also abused SA players and fans, only they did it in a non-English language that ICC administrators do not understand. That is the only reason Pakistani players escaped scot free. Your comments are so one-sided that it is worthless.

To give credit to SA, at least they will respect the ban on Gibbs and keep him out. Unlike Pakistani cricket where players are "banned" for the use of illegal drugs/substances and they get out of it miraculously without punishment, much to the dismay of fans worldwide.

I believe the comments made by Gibbs were based on the behaviour of the supporters rather than on their colur, religion or race etc, Why slam and pre-judge him when one doesn't know on what basis he made those comments?

I think 2 test matches ban is a bit harsh to Gibbs. I am a captain of my team based in Greenville, NC and if any of my player is abused by the crowd I will definitely lose my temper. I am a pakistani yet I am not offended by this act because you have to look at the circumstances and Gibbs is a great fighter for his team.

Akmal's comments reflect off the Pakistani team and its supporters, with weak and predictable commentary. There is no question that this racial nonsense has been overplayed. His article is just an attempt to draw attention from another poor performance by the side and another shocking display by the supporters. In any event I personally dont believe what the players have to say in the middle of the field should be under scrutiny beyond what the umpires may deem unfit. Too bad Gibbs has to be the victim but at least it will improve the Pakis chances in the upcoming matches. Get on with the game.

How is it that "Paki" is deemed a racist term ? You can call an Australian an "Auzzie" or an Englishman a "Pom" and they are not racist (Or a "Saffa" for that matter). To call someone an animal is also not racist - it is merely an insult much like calling someone an idiot or barbarian. Me thinks that people these days are way too sensitive about race. People should learn to stop crying about what they may be called and ...

what did Gibbs say? something about "they are a bunch of animals"... or did I miss something

this is all about what they think and their mentality.

I'm sorry but I totally disagree with you Gibbs should be commended - in a country plagued by aweful racism in the past it is now showing that all the hard work is paying off that a player of mixed race is standing by a "white player" - I don't understand all this "RACISM" talk afterall Gibbs only said "they" are a bunch of animals since when has the word "they" been racist - oh yeah and no one has said anything about the group of pakistanis abusing Harris being racist why is that?

The problem is with us. We are ill behaved, arrogant and think a world of ourselves whereas we are nothing but load of hot air every where in the world. We are a problem nation and our leaders are too. We are animals and Gibbs was right. We deserve the title.Gibbs should be given a medal as he highlighted the truth.

This sort of whisper-behind-the-hands accusation of South African cricketers does you no credit whatsoever Kamran. All nations have been guilty of sledging, and the Pakistan players have made utter fools of themselves in the past by trying to denigrate players whom they could not hold a candle to. (eg telling Justin Langer: you wouldn't make our second side.) Hilarious. There are too many Test teams and journalists who are pointing the finger at others when their own house is very much not in order.

Though at present gibbs might have been banned for 2 tests, earlier Shrishant has been fined for for his behaviour, but since long time we are watching Andre Nels mis behaviour but is being escaped in the name of so called aggression. nel needs to be penalised

Unfortunately, this issue is not as clear cut as it seems. While I agree that there should NOT be a case for turning off the stump microphones; after all cricket is supposed to be watched by the whole family, so profanity has no place on the field.
However, I also think that Pakistani/Indian /Aus/(insert country here) fans can be a bunch of animals. I fully agree with Gibbs there and I do not consider that to be a racist comment (assuming of course, that was all that Gibbs said). Anyone who disagrees with me just has to go watch an international one dayer at Wankhede, Mumbai to listen to the abuse hurled at fielders standing at the boundary be it Indian players or visitors. Saying that they are a bunch of animals would be putting it mildly. I think people like Kamran Abbasi and those who overhype political correctness should step back and differentiate between real racism (a la Darren Lehmann, for eg) and perceived racism like this incident in SA.

Call a spade a spade, if a part of the Pakistani crowd acted like monkeys, I don't see the harm of calling them monkeys, and I dont see where the racism comes into it, if you act like a human being, you can expect to be treated like a human. If you act like a monkey, expect to be treated like a monkey.

Yes imran, South Africa is formerly an apartheid nation, the key word being "formerly"

If the ban stays all that means to me is Gibbs will have a nice rest and be ready for the ODI's and more importantly the World Cup.

I have seen reports stating that SA fielders were subjected to abuse and baboon chanting was directed at the 'non-white' players. That is tantamount to suggesting they are baboons which is highly offensive. Herschelle only stated that the behaviour of the supporters were like animals, not the supporters themselves - a subtle but important difference. Furthermore, it has been reported that he suggested that this is not "....ing" Pakistan (a reference to poor crowd behaviour as suggested in an above post) and that they "....." off back to Pakistan(and if they were abusing SA hospitatlity, he may have been right in his suggestion!) Now whilst I agree that provocative language has been used, I would not interpret any of his comments as being racist. Defamatory but not racist and I believe this will form part of his defence during his appeal. But then again, I wouldn't consider either 'whingeing Poms' or 'bloody Aussies' to be racist statements so I might be a tad desensitised.
I also have agree that the Proteas could do with toning down the snarling and other pleasantries.

I agree and disagree with your comments, I dont think Gibbs' comments were directed at Pakistanis in general. I think he was referring to that particular group of people (and he wasnt wrong). I do agree with you that they were provoked, the SA's conduct on the field is terrible, especially Nel! Having said that, this does not excuse the actions of the spectators.
While I dont deny that racism exists, people tend to over react on these issues.

Gibbs, by calling the rowdy Pakistani spectators "animals", proved that he was only "human". ICC, by banning Gibbs for 2 matches proved that justice was done and cricketing rules for conduct were applied.

Today, Strauss was clearly given out by an erring umpire Davis. Strauss, though disappointed walked back to the pavilion gracefully, without uttering a word or showing disgust. Unlike Gibbs, Strauss followed the rules, rather than being human and being fined or banned.

Gibbs uttering nonsense was somewhat equal to Zidane headbutting Materrazzi, when provoked. But both Gibbs and Zidane are wrong according to the rules and justly penalised.

Regards
Mahesh

On one hand, one can sympathise with Gibbs; true, he may simply have been irritated by (possibly also racist) barracking, but at the same time, this does not remove his culpability. Too many players have recently been disciplined, and subsequently had the punishment downgraded so far as to be negligible (one needs to look no further than the recent drugs ban). Gibbs needs to be punished for such an offence, but the problem is not institutionalised in SA Cricket. Anger drives even the most thick-skinned players to distraction and a slip of weakness should not be seen as anything deeper.

Well, what can i say? Nobody can justify the action of Gibbs. But what about those hooligans who were masquerading as cricket fans? Shouldn't there be a ban imposed on them as well? wat say?

Okay, not sure where to start. Lets see, Kamran. For a man with such a vast repertoire and who has a few letters behind his name, I am amused at your take on the goings on in the 1st test. For too many reasons to go into, I think, that had the test been played by 2 of the other test playing teams, any of whom do not have the apartheid history of South Africa, this whole issue would have been looked over and you would have mused on about your days playing cricket in Leeds or something just as bland (like the polititcs of cricket).Your 'expertise' in the politics of cricket doesn't give credibility to your sentiments expressed in your article. I think that's just what you intended to do, put politics into an exciting game of cricket, that Pakistan ended up losing.

Now, onto Imran. When was the last time you came out from under the rock you seem to live? Your comments are dumbfounding!

Agreed. Gibbs (who is a coloured South African)was a bit naive in expressing his sentiments so vociferously, especially as he is a figure young cricketers look up to. I think South Africa, like Australia play their cricket not only on the field, but in the minds of their opponents too, and other teams are too weak to match that, and as such, need to make silly complaints. Credit where credit is due though, Pakistan did stay out of the change rooms. This will not stop a 3-0 ass whippin!!

I wonder why nothing has been done with Andre Nell .. he was violent throughout the match, didn't anyone see that .. instead the penalty (rightly so) has been imposed on Gibbs for that one comment !

Dear K Akmal

It just seems strange when everytime there is a major incident in cricket (on and off the field), Pakistan cricket is nearly always involved. Most controversial subjects that give cricket a bad name, such as ball tampering, match-fixing, on-field behaviour and unsportman like conduct, can be linked to Pakistan cricket. Pakistan cricket is the problem in world cricket today. Every so often they seem to take the focus off the game and injure its name and the people that are involved. The Pakistan cricket team has to be handled with kid gloves or they will find something to discredit the game. Hopefully countries around the world will learn that cricket with Pakistan is not even worth the effort.

My goodness me. Were we watching the same game!
"The snarling--and persistent--abuse that South Africa's players hurled at Pakistan's players went some way beyond sledging. It is amazing that the umpires tolerated it."
I watched all 5 days of this game, and it was played hard, and in a good spirit, by and large. I did not see/or hear, any of the 'snarling' venom that you refer to. Was there childish drivel spouted (and passed off as sledging)? I'm sure there was ... but to suggest that the game was played in 'vile atmoshpere' is rubbish, and should be dismissed with contempt.
Come now gentlemen. Whilst South Africa has had a troubled past, these professional cricket are more sensitive to racial issues than probably ANY cricket team in the HISTORY of the game! They HAVE to be. That they can say stupid things, doesn't make them RACIST. Or does it?

I am South African and feel the punishment was fitting but it alludes to the greater problem. I think that the majority of countries will have certain players who are intolerant. This is the nature of humanity. It is intolerant of difference.

A step needs to be made to sort it out and this could very well be it. A starting block to erradicate the intolerance. I agree that defending your team-mate is commendable but doing it in a racist manner is totally incorrect.

We have a very diverse populace in this country, and post apartheid, we need to unify as South Africans and not see race as a factor. This is true for any country and having people, who are representing their country internationally, behaving like biggots is a far cry from the unity that is needed.

All teams need to be tolerant of friendly on-field banter. But anything that crosses into racial slurs should be dealt with accordingly.

"Animals" is racist now? Weird stuff - we've been calling violent football supporters and so on "animals" over in England for years, and that's been said almost entirely *by* whites *about* whites.

I do agree with Kamran abbasi. it was one fair and square decision by Chris board, there should be no place for such racist and i guess now something should be done for Andre Nel aswell. This guy Andre NEL looks a psycho to me and yes atlast one of the main reasons why pakistan lost the match was poor umpiring 5 clear cut outs turned down in favour of pakistan is something very very unfair with any team at any day.

to all those saying the behaviour of the spectators was like animals, they should listen carefully to gibbs choice of words. it wasnt general and pakis had been mentioned
so think before you type, he was wrong and the ban isnt severe enough.

I reckon that most of the RSA players are threatened by the Pakistan Team as they know these guys are capable and are naturally talented.Hense they increase thier intensity and the only way they know how is through ridicule,racist remarks and swearing.Hashim Amla should consider retirement as he doesnt mix with this bunch.I hope Shoaib plays this match and breaks a few Gibbs ribs in the process.Let the ball do the talking!

Hmmmmmmm...as far as I'm aware, Gibbs referred to the fans in question as "a bunch of animals". To incur a ban for racism he must also surely have said something else. Anyone know exactly what it was?

Re the South Africans' sledging: they've been doing it since time immemorial (I also watched the preceding series against India - which contained as much, if not more, sledging) & have long been regarded as second only to the Aussies in terms of the frequency and intensity of their sledging - so, really, the Pakistani team should have known what was awaiting them, especially as Bob Woolmer was the Proteas' coach for some years and would have been well aware of their predilection for on-field abuse and intimidation. But WAIT! Just how intimidating is it to be confronted by a braindead neanderthal like Andre Nel yelling "I'm all over you" the moment after you've just despatched another of his leg stump half volleys for four?

David Smith, by claimimg that Graeme (note the spelling) Smith and Andrew Hall are Afrikaans tells me that you don't know much about SA cricket at all. If calling someone a "Pakistani" is considered racist, then surely calling him an "Afrikaner" is the same?

Gibbes is coloured, not Afrikaaner. If there were true Afrikaaners in the team they would sort him, Ntini and Prince out before turning to the opposition.

I support Gibbes in a matter like this. The only reason he was suspended is because of the recording taken by a microphone that should have been off. OJ got off because of incorrectly gathered evidence (I think), so should Herschell.

The Australians had the same problem last summer. The ICC should address the TV directors and ensure they follow procedure.

In a competitive game like cricket there's bound to be a few blemishes here and there. Some would say that its just a game, but if you look at the larger picture you have two teams holding back no punches in a bid to bring glory to their nation. In fact the prior series against India also had its own melodramatic twists and turns, not to forget Nel's tongue lashing and sreeshants subsequent reaction. My point is there is bound to be intolerance and racism everywhere, but the trick lies in how u combat the same and come up trumps. The proteas just engaged the pakis in some mental degradation which they sadly succumbed to. One has to be made of sterner stuff.

I don't think the comment was racist. But I feel, for too long, the South Africans and the Australians have been going scott free uttering whatever they want in the field, and showing distinct signs of aggression. ICC should bring in a rule where a stare or a glare at an opponent batsmen should ban a player!! If ICC can spot a dissent towards an umpire, they can surely spot this one too!

What a terrible example of journalism. I've never seen such wild, unsubstantiated accusations printed in my life.

If evidence is presented that justifies the authors view-point, then I will be the first to admit that its wrong. However, responsible jounalism, in my opinion, would require at least the provision of facts to back up what, to me, appears to be nothing less than slander.

Provide the facts to substantiate your opnion!

I don't want to talk abt any racist angle in this case.We will never know if Gibbs really intended to make any racist comments or was it a spur of the moment but the fact is and will always reamin is that there are double standards when it comes of players from the sub continent.Andre Nel always uses expletives against the opposition especially sub continent players.He always crosses the line most often and doesn't know when to stop.Ricky ponting is another idiot who thinks he is bigger than the game.The ICC has really set a bad example by not punishing these offenders who go scott free everytime they do something wrong.This has really led to disgust among the cricketing public in general.I don't agree if somebody tells me now tha cricket is a gentleman's game.

It seems like everyone has there comments, i honestly think the stump mike should be switched off between overs or not there at all, i donot say the racial slur of which i am sure there were many from both sides and fans was right but if you are going to punish one than punish all, its coming down to you have to watch everything you do nowadays,Kamran i am sure you heard your odd bit of banter when you were playing and tell me how many were banned, i hazard a guess not many, people are human even sports people, it was a mistake and he deserves punishment but dont make a mountain out of it, its done and dusted let cricket prevail now. And the cricket authorities must start getting stricter on the shocking crowd behaviour

The comments from the likes of Sushil and Ammar are blantantly out of touch with South Africa and its history. What Gibbs said to the Pakastani supporters could never have been on the basis of skin colour as Gibbs himself as anyone who knows anything about South Africa is a non-white player from the previously disadvantaged side of South Africa.
In addition according to the Oxford dictionary the word "animal" is defined as "...noun [C] INFORMAL
an unpleasant, cruel person or someone who behaves badly." I do not see anything suggesting racism.

well if "bunch of bloody animals" is all he said, then in all fairness, it's not something racist i suppose. gibbs has not been known as a man of strongest character on the circuit, with involvement in match fixing and stuff, but let's give the devil his due, this particular incidence has little matter in it. Though i think the broader issue of coming up with a clear definition of sledging, and taking out abusive and derogatory contents from it, has to be looked into. plus, calling umpires names and questioning their capability or integrity, as ricky ponting has done in the past, is totally unacceptable. after all said and done, it is a gentlemen's game in the end!!:)

As amazing as this article is, it shows how bias the writer is to the Pakistani cause and really sounds like sour grapes. Sometimes one has to ask the question IS being agitated by and abusive crowd and reacting to this a CRIME or is getting AWAY with doping bans based on so called "ignorance" A REAL CRIME !

Kamran is point blank here. I think the South African Board should hold classes to their players on how to behave on the field. They are just getting away with saying its an on-field banter. Especially Andre Nel - he simply gets away without any punishment either in the sub-continent or in his own den. The blame is to be entirely on the field umpires. Of course , its human to give wrong decisions, but its in-humane to hear racial slur and not act upon.

Guys people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. We all love to preach about racism because it's a convenient topic. If people are acting like animals, regardless of their colour or creed, then there is nothing wrong with calling them animals. If it had been a group of Aussie supporters nobody would care, but because the supporters were non-white, now it is conveniently racist. It would help us all if we pulled out the racist card last and not first.

I feel that some people see evil where none is intended. I am horrified by the vicious attacks in some of these messages.It seems that some people are more interested in making trouble than they are in cricket.
How can a comment on some supporters be an attack on the whole Pakistani nation? How do you know the supporters were even from Pakistan at all? Perhaps they were local people of Pakistani descent and it is they who were so being racially intolerant.

If Gibbs has said bloody Poms, Yanks, Aussies etc nothing more would have been said about this issue. I don't feel it was racist but it was certainly ill advised. Describing supporters as 'bloody animals' is not racist either and I have seen wildlife of a simliar ilk supporting other countries too. If you behave like a cretin prepare to be described as an animal. It doesn't make it racist.
Compared to the problems we have seen in Aus over the past few years, this is mild abuse at best. When a Aussie commentator call a player a terrorist, when an Aussie player call the Sri Lankan team 'black c***s' and when a section of the Aussie crowd taunts a team using racial slurs, then this is indeed racist.
Having said all that, I am constantly embarrassed by the antics of the SA team on the field when their noise levels and over the top agression gets in the way of a good game of cricket. Cut it out lads!

Now now children. We all know that what Gibbs came out with is really not on but broad accusations that the SA test team is inherently racist is a bit much. As Jag said, from club level up cricket is played hard down south and I'd hate to see the "tea and cucumber sandwiches" culture creeping in at any level of cricket (anyone who's played enough cricket will know that verbals are all part of the fun). This isn't really about racism at all. Its about cricketers in the public eye behaving themselves and knowing that comments like that are not acceptable at any time. You may be thinking it but bloody hell, just don't go saying it next to the stump mike.

Smith getting Shoaib banned! What a joke. The first thing SA need is a big leash and a huge whip to keep that idiot of a fast bowler Andre Nel under control. I have difficulty beleiving that someone as obviously stupid as him plays game after game in international cricket and literally gets away with murder time and again because it is "just in his nature". That excuse would probably be ok if he were 8 (which I suspect he is mentally), but being a professional cricketer, only the ball should be doing the talking. Or maybe that's where the problem lies ...

I reckon we should just stop playing all kinds of sport if this is what happens. Sledging should be outlawed full stop. No-one should be able to speak to any member of the opposition. Any person found swearing or passing any un gentlemanly comment should be kicked off the field.

Just for the record, I notice a number of posts here referring to the fact that racist comments where made by Gibbs. This is not the fact, what he said may be wrong but in no way can that be seen as being racist. I can't help but ask myself if it was South African supporters and Pakistani players if it would still have been called racist remarks, or would it just have been called for not being in the spirit of the game.

I totally agree vid Kamran and must appriciate Kamran for addressing this issue.It is shocking to know that smith is backing Gibbs for watever he said. The real essence of the game is entertainment and sportsmanship but when it comes to RSA most of the plyers use ill ways to distract the concentration of the batsman. India went back complaining Nel so as Pakistan complaining. I agree vid one of the comment made by Waseem Akram dat Nel is mentaly ill. It is the responsibility of the caption to handle his players and what can cricket lovers say if caption is backing up such issue which shouldn't happen in the game. Cricket is the game of patience. Gibbs showed tolerance while he was batting can't he show tolerance while he is on the field. He must.

I see "Rizwan Ahmed" says he hopes "Shoaib plays this match and breaks a few Gibbs ribs in the process". Wake up man, Gibbs has just been banned for two matches, thats what all the fuss is about.

Pity this had to happen, but for Pakistan to claim the moral high ground is not supported by cricket history...for a non white south african who knows all about racism this is a storm in a tea cup.

David Smith u hit the nail on the head in your comment. I agree with JAVED A. KHAN, MONTREAL, CANADA, this pathetic excuse of a team who call them selves South Africa, 1st of all i didn't really expect herchelle gibbs to come out with those comments as i did not think he was the type like andre nel and hall and graham smith however he's proven me wrong. It shows that deep down the Souathe African's have still the same arpathite beleifs alive within them. I also think this is a revenge like motif from the South African's from whe nthe toured Pakistan and had words with the Pakistan team memebers like Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammed Yousaf ( Then Called Youhana) andre nel and Yousaf both received bans and fined i think, so its still not over and i don't think after this remark of gibbs will make any difference as it will still go on throughout the series. The ICC seriously need 2 get off their backsides in Dubai and do something espeially Malcom Speed who i thnk is rascist but i cannot prove it but he's always against Pakistanis. This word sledging doesn't mean you can 'F' and blind the opposition like nel and harris do, the video reff should have heard all this and done something about well before after the match had finished, the African's should look at the way players like Freddy Flintoff sledges he's quite a comedian lol. What i'd really like to know is what Hashim AMla has to say about all this, i do feel sorry for him actually being apart of a racist team deepdown i think they even brain washed ntini whose beleiving he is white, unless im colour blinde i still think hes black am i right? and i respect Amla aswell becausehe doesn't wear the alcohol sponsors for the team on his shirt, htis is another thing which he was looked down upon by his own team.

'You cannot get bloood from a stone', and relating to this matter the South African's will never change deep down with their views.

Note. i dont applause what the pakistani fans did aswell their a disgrace to be called our fans, those who are going the rest of the series please don't do anything of this nature you are also representing pakistan do it in a good way.

I am looking forward to the rest of the series as its set up 2be gripping perhaps this is going to be a good wake up call for the Pakistan team so they can take revenge by the best means only the BALL and the BAT................

This is right decision taken. Being international personality they simply cannot speak such rubbish things. Similar sort of decision should be taken against Andre Nel of SA. for his repeated reasonless sledging. Even it is irritating for a normal TV viewer.
This is the second time he has been penalized. He will deffinatly think thrice before he does any these sort of stuff again. Also this should be a eye opener for few of the other players from Australia

When I read all the comments like the one "Rahul" post about Andre Nel I have to laugh. He obviously intimidates the fans more than the players.
Go for it Andre, piss them off big time!

The Pakistan fans behaved in a manner which justified evicting them from the ground. They had been rude and abisuve ; as Gibbs stated, they were behaving like animals. This view was probably shared by most of the cricket-loving crowd and hopefully the Pakistani team as well. I find it very odd that the Pakistani team should lodge a complaint on Gibbs' comments, still more so that the ICC should go so far as to ban the player. Surely a more appropriate action would be to fine the Pakistani team for the behaviour of its fans ?

Gibbs punishment was justified, however we should treat the comment as part of competitive nature. This incident is a stem from what we these days call sledging, and I think it is getting out of control. The umpires need to have more control as to what players say to each other on the field as far as sledging goes. It should be less talking and more skills.

Well as the stump cam and mic can be used to incriminate a player I recomend that anyone who swears in the match to be fined. It is after all live daytime tv! However, that would just be going over the top.
Not quite sure what it is that Gibbs said exactly. But from what I gather, it really wasn't directed at anyone in particular but at those people who were behaving like animals. And quite rightly they should go back to where they came from... be it Pakistan or where ever. I wonder why nobody has put a complaint to the Pakistan cricket board for the behavior of their fans? In other sports everyone is responsible for their fans, home or away. Is cricket that different?
Rahul... I tend to agree with you on the Andre Nel thing... but that is another matter :)

Gibbs was charged under Level 3.3 of the ICC's Code of Conduct for making "abusive comments" about a section of the crowd.

So, regardless of whether or not one thinks the comments were "racist", the comments for sure were "offensive" and unacceptable, PERIOD!

If instead of Gibbs, it was some brown guy from Asia, I am sure all of those defending Gibbs would be commenting that "2-test ban" is NOT enough!!

I think Mr Abassi is just doing what all the media do, sensationalise. They have to write a story and have to make it worthwhile for their editor - all we have above is one mans one-sided opinion. I honestly thought journalists were supposed to report the news/incidents with as much fact and nuance from both sides to leave the reader well informed to make up his own mind. Disappointing reporting.

Gibbs has a responsibility to conform to ICC behavouir codes, but nothing I heard could have been possibly listed as racist.

A doping ban overturned and a apparently 'racist' ban in the same article - no comparison!! And if I have to explain why then everyone is totally missing the point here.....

I have read the above posts with interest, all the posters who think that they can comment on SA being still stuck in the apartheid era, when it is very obvious from their post they have never been her - should quite frankly get lost. I live here, we deal with our new country daily (and we all know it isn't perfect!) and unless you've been here and experienced it - keep your one-sided unsubstantiated opinions to yourself. For the others that live here and continue to feel oppressed - go back to India (one poster was Indian). I've been there, and quite frankly, the social problems SA has is nothing compared to what is happening in India - or what you could face in India.

Our country is not perfect, our team is not perfect, but I won't stoop to your level and point fingers at all the Pakistani imperfections that exist, rather I would say ....

1) if this had happened to any team other than sub-continent, this wouldn't have even made the news, and in that I include the WI - but that is perhaps their because their fans are better behaved.

2) look at this is a big dose of common sense, don't let journalist/reporters stir up storm which shouldn't be there and lets just enjoy the cricket.

Pakistan had lodged an official complaint with Broad after Gibbs was heard saying "a bunch of bloody animals"
The comments were made shortly before lunch, soon after South Africa complained about three spectators near the boundary who allegedly swore at bowler Paul Harris

What did Inzy have to complain about? Did he say: "Gibbs swore at the louts in the stands. As these louts looked to me like Pak supporters, I assume that he is calling al Pak people animals"
Seems like convoluted reasoning to me.
Maybe I'm missing something here.

I have long believed in following. The subcontinent provides all the money to ICC and yet we are treated like step child.
Lets breake away from ICC. Make our own federation with 10 teams from India 5 from Pakistan, 2 from Srilanka and 1 from Bangladesh and play a year long trophy with one team winning in the end. Lets keep the money in subcontinent itself and have better stadiums and more players earning money. HOWS THAT????????

If Mr Gibbs is to be punished then so should the supporters. Read my take on it here:- http://shamikdas.blogspot.com/2007/01/hersch-sinner-or-sinned-against_15.html

Andre Nel gets away with it because the ICC lets him get away with it. I agree he seems not all together up there, but he was definitely not "violent" as some misguided people have mentioned. Anyway, this is not about Andre and his attitude, this is about Herschelle getting a bum deal for calling a spade a spade.

Here is the recording of Gibbs comments

http://www.pakcric.com/cricket/cricket-videos/boucher-saying-f-pakistanis-pakistan-vs-sa-2007-test-1.html

Gibbs said: "F*cking animals.. f*cking go back to the zoo.. f*cking pakistanas!"

perhaps Chris Broad is at fault here, if he is the person that instigated the enquiry (the above article is so badly written and doesn't quite provide all the important facts that I am not too sure).

If he has then perhaps it is his error in labeling this a misconduct with racist overtones instead of just calling it what it was, ungentlemanly conduct and bringing the game into disrepute - which would normally be a cash fine.

Pakistani team should be commended for complaining about racist taunts. The recorded insult by convicted match-fixer Herschel Gibbs is only the tip of the sewage pile. Andre Nel, Graeme Smith and Hall are also persistent foul-mouthed abusers, and the ICC and umpires have been blatantly biased in tolerating this, while "cracking down" on perceived offenses such as Srisanth saying 'bye' to Amla, or for appealing for catches on close shaves ( I mean bat-ball-pad, not Mr. Amla)

WHY has Graeme Smith not been banned for "bringing the game into disrepute" as his team has most certainly done, in both the India series and now in the Pakistan 1st Test? His personal example is dismal, and he is clearly encouraging his team to continue to bring the game into disrepute. Pakistan should ask why Nel's and Gibbs' and Smith's behavior is not bringing the game into disrepute, like the ICC accused (falsely, as it was proven) that Inzamam of doing.

If the ICC can't stop being racist louts, India and Pakistan should take their money and cricket teams into a new organization independent of ICC. Let the ICC go watch the boors spit at each other - Australia and South Africa are abusive louts, and England are slimy whiners. They deserve each other. As for the West Indies, after Lara's behavior towards Dhoni after his team's dishonest "catch", I cannot have any respect for them either. Their umpire Doctrove is an Uncle Tom of the worst kind.

Channel 10 in Sydney played the audio with subtitles in their report. It is:
"****bunch of animals" "**** hyenas, go back to the zoo". Clearly in Gibb's accent. Then a slight gap and a DIFFERENT voice, from slightly further away says: "F****ing Pakistanis".
Until I heard that second voice I had not thought it was racist. Animals is an apt term for the crowd behaviour.
But I wonder who that second voice is???

"All credit to Cricket South Africa for further investigating Herschelle Gibbs but what they really should be doing is considering the public conduct of their team. It is conduct that does little for the image of the Rainbow Nation."

Gibbs should not be playing international cricket - he should have been banned for match fixing. Asif and Akhtar should not be playing either and if you are looking to call anyone a disgrace how about Inzi (remember the Oval). Funny how you only remember when you are cheated or abused...

i think any kind of racism cannot be allowed in a game of cricket, either by players or by spectators. spectators need to be punished as well. i think players are human as well, why do we only expect them to be right always ?

The racist comments on this blog are disgusting, far worse than anything Gibbs said but yet many of you seem to feel free to dish it out and crucify Gibbs at the same time.
Two facts: 1) Gibbs is a "person of colour" (only a racist would care). 2) You don't have to be white to be racist.
The number of blogs here which refer to racism being a symptom of all white south africans or south african society as a wholeis astonishing. Do any of those who posted these sentiments realise just how truly racist they themselves are?

Feel free to flame me, I'll not be returning to this blog. The attitubes displayed by many posters on both sides of the arguement are revolting.
Complaining about racist comments with a racist post is hypocracy of the worst nature.

The Pakistani fans behaved atrociously and those responsible should be banned from live cricket matches in South Africa for a set period
Gibbs' comments were rude and he should know better. A 2 match ban is a little harsh, but fair enuff, he was in error.
Playing the race card is pathetic, he did not refer to anyones race, religion or ethnicity and was referring to a specific group of people, not a people as a whole. So what was racist about what he said?

As for Andre Nel and the rest of the team this hardly seems to be the forum. Sure Andre Nel is an idiot who can be downright offensive but it seems to me that many of the posts here seem to be from people who've simply been looking for an excuse to SLEDGE south africa and it's cricket team and have no understanding of the real issue here.

That is all.

Sincere apologies to Mr ABBASI for wrongly referring to him as Mr Akmal previously.
Dear me, looks like my earlier post has been received more varied opinon than I care to keep up with...
To clarify my position, I was never defending H Gibbs. There is no excuse for racism or direct retaliation to jibes from the crowd. A man cannot choose the colour of skin he is born with.

I was postulating though, whether the Pak players should have shown some of that aggression rather than their supporters, and where the supporters frustrations came from in the first place...perhaps from their team's inadequacy to deal with the all the (non-racist) sledging.

south african players(among other whites) can get away with anything....thats the feeling ICC is giving...
i am an indian but i sincerely wish...akhtar plays next game and bowls to nel!!

I think that it has been established that if all Gibbs said was "bloody animals" this is DEFINITELY not racist. If anyone thinks it is please explain the rationale. However as a real South African sports fan I agree with the comments about Smith and Nel.
Smiths constant gum chewing and spitting are very irritating and he is not a captain I am proud of and who I would want our youth to look up to. Prince would make a far better captain.
Nel is a big buffoon. He is an embarrasment to South Africa and to himself. Everyone says that he is mild mannered off the pitch, but this is no good to the fans as we only see him on TV or live. I enjoy a bit of chirping and niggle but Nel is pathetic. Grow up Andre you are going to burn yourself out before your time.

Since when did highly paid sports pro (so called pros) get a licence to use abusive language racsist or not. What sort of role model is Nel when he is ranting and raving swearing and blinding during every over , "i smell blood" etc. Get a grip SA Cricket you are becoming more and more like the Australians. Sledging is one thing to distract a batsmen, but to hurl insults is another. You talk about Pakistan and their problems, what about Gibbs and his tainted background, was he not branded a cheat not so long a go, he is still a wanted man in India, right ?? if pakistan can have "branded cheats" in their team look at your own shadey past. You don't look so rosey now do you.

Its good that people like Shary Malik acknowledge that the supporters need to do their role as well. As an australian I was embarrassed by the racist remarks made by supporters against south africa when they toured here last summer and think its good that the grounds are ejected the hooligans from the ground. It seems that everyone is doing their bit to stamp out the problem and i think that if it continues to be moderated as such it will eventually disappear.
But what I want to know is what Gibbs said that was racist. All I've heard that he said is that that particular part of the crowd were a "bunch of animals" and I don't see that as racist. If they're swearing and carrying on then that makes them animals and has nothing to do with whether they were pakistani, south african, chinese or antarctican. Perhaps the other stuff he said is too harsh to be repeated...
When will players let their bats and balls do the talking instead of running their mouth all the time?

This entire incident is ludicrous. Racism has nothing to do with it - its all those "holier than thou" hypocrites that love to criticise others, under any circumstances. How is it that the players don't complain about Nel et al ? Perhaps its because they have decided he isn't worth it and would rather smash his bowling over the fence than whine about his antics ! Abuse of players by other players and/or members of the crowd (in ALL Countries, not just Ozzie or SA) have been going on since Noah was a boy - and will continue regardless of any hissy fit being thrown by the ICC and/or CSA and/or anybody else !
For heaven's sake people let's all grow up. Also, to compare Herschelle's misdemeanour to the drug bans of Pakistani players is totally ridiculous. Players from ALL countries swear and perform on the field but it seems that only some (ie those from politically correct and wimpish ones) are punished and publicly villified. How about banning loutish fans from cricket matches ? That would make a heck of a lot more sense to me...

Rahul,

Im pretty sure this coments board is about Gibbs. What are you reading? Im sure Shoaib would be the same if he wasnt so drugged up.

The first thing that needs to be said is that if Gibbs did racially villify members of the crowd then he needs to be punished, the second thing is that he is a professional cricketer who is paid to do a job, part of that job is to be situationally aware. If he doesn't know the stump mics might be on then he has problems. Thirdly, as has been stated before, this is one incident in one place that has nothing to do with Australia, Darell Hair, Andre Nell, Drugs in Sport, the West Indies, etc so why are people drawing all of those issues into it? Fourthly, why in any blog on this site does it degenerate into a race based slanging match - honestly it's 11 men on each team in white clothes. Lastly, Gibbs, even if not guilty of any particular crime, is guilty of gross stupidity so enforce the ban as it stands but make sure that the same ban applies consistently for comments overheard about the nature of the crowd.

nonsense

#Sorry Mr.Jag if south Africa were taunts by the crowd in Australia, does that mean SA players are allow to make racial comments towards the crowds? Your comment looks funny.

#I totally agree with you Javed A. Khan. Andre Nel should be warned for sledging on batsman. It's ok once or twice but not every ball. I have noticed that SA players try to distract the batsman.

#Confused you yourself confused and how do you know what is right and wrong???!!!

#Murray are you out of your mind??? If you are going to talk about drug issues, who is going to talk about matchfixing matters?

#If you bark at the dog when the dog barks at you, there is no difference between you and the dog. I agree that bad behaviour is not acceptable but you H Gibbs representing a nation should be wise.

I don't think calling someone animal is a racial comment. Infact its not. But inappropriate behaviour of Gibbs is unacceptable and he should be punished. May be a warning. Gibbs You are representing a nation please behave yourself...

Cricket is gentlemen game and simply we cannot allow bunch of clowns like A Nel come and spoil the game

It's amazing that none of the Pakistani supporters comments reflect the fact that Gibbs' comments were actually not racial. He referred to the crowd behaving like "bloody animals" Is this racist? If he had said this in Australia, would it be considered to be racist. Is this whole affair just about "sour grapes" then? Kamran Abbasi, you are way too biased to be a responsible journalist - get a life.

to all those who are crying about 'animal thang' not racist remark... well lemme update u all... the remarks that got gibbs in poop were 'f@#$%^& PAKISTANIS'... now tell me thats not racist...
this that!

All this crap about Gibbs making a racist comment makes me sick! Calling a bunch of unruly supporters "a bunch of animals" and telling them to "Go back to the zoo!" can in NO WAY be interpreted as remotely racist. As an India living in the US, it pisses me off when people of my race make such accusations of racism. It is so cowardly! Were the supporters feeling they were from an inferior race that they felt racially abused?

Anyhow, without a doubt, people of Indian and Pakistani races are far more racist than any other community. It's time we admitted that and faced the bloody facts.

Hashim Amla is strong enough to stand up for what he believes in , thus castle does not appear anywhere on his attire.Are some of you morons honestly suggesting that he, Prince or the strong willed Ntini or coloured Gibbs would racially taunt the Pakistanis? The SA bowling coach is not white, neither in the convenor of selectors. Does the name Gerald Majola sound white ?If our cricket is as rotten as some of you suggest would these people still be involved ?Can the players continue to take abuse and not discuss it ? Are they not human ?

You know friends, it seems like most of you haven't watched any of the action when pakistan was batting in both innings. The kind of rubbish I was hearing non-stop has led me to lost all the respect for this South African team. I became such a big fan of this S.A team when they beat Aussies in that fifth one day chasing that huge 400+ score but after watching this last test match - i have stunned by the racial behavior these players have displayed. Non-stop you could hear in the background Boucher, Gibbs, Smith throwing out racial slurs on the batsmen.
Here is the video link from this test match where boucher is saying F--KING PAKI.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifAgtI989ns&eurl
And that annoying Nel. i dont understand what to make of this guy.
South Africans you have lost a fan here and many more around the world - I tell you that..

Cricket is a game and needs the sporting spirit.. All the aggression is fine as long as the game is played in spirits. This is not war. Abuse, racism and any kind of unsporting activities have no place... They can easily be found on the back alleys of any city and cricketers don't have to worry about promoting them.. Gibbs has to stay out and so be the case..

The Pakistani fans had it coming. If you act like animals what do you expect. And why are they living in South Africa, abusing SA players and vehemently supporting Pakistan with flags and what not. Its shameful and disgraceful. Show some respect to the country you live in. They should be humiliated and kicked out of SA. I can never understand how these morons get into such countries in the first place. Go back to Pakistan.

David Smith - you are hallucinating - Gibbs is certainly not an Afrikaner, neither is Smith or Hall - easy cop out - blame it on the Afrikaner - you, sir, are clueless.

I completely agree with Javed Khan - the kind of behaviour the aussies and south africans get away with is shocking and farcial to say the least. Daryl Harper said to the young Indian keeper Dinesh Karthik not to get carried away the minute the youngster made a longish appeal. He was officiating in the same test where Andre Nel was repeatedly running down the pitch and talking to the batsmen after every ball - not a word was said to him. It was as though Nel's ritual was a part of his daily exercises!. I would go as far as saying that the biggest perpetartors are the ICC - how else can one justify the recall of darrel hair?. Unfortunately, India and pakistan seem to be at the receiving end. There can be no sympathy for the behaviour of Gibbs and the south africans - they may be winners, but are poor role models and certainly can't be called champions.

Actually, no one seems to know what was actually said.Possibly becacuse the ICC deems the matter to be so "sensitive" that only selective extracts of the chat has been oficially put forward. It could be, that other derogatory racial epithets had been used but has not been made public. We therefore need to reserve judgement till th full facts come out. Having said that an emotive term such as "PAKI" (which may have been used)has different connotations and impact around the world. I remember about ten years ago, commentaries by Tony Greig (native South African)used the term "Pakis" in referring to the Pakistani test team. I believe, this was a completely innocent use of the word and within the context of Australian or South African community would not be deemed to be a racial insult. I would even go so far as to suggest that any ethnic pakistanis living in Australia or South Africa at the time would have been offended or slighted. However, over the years it has been generally acknowledged that the word "PAKI" may give offence as this epithet is used in a derogatary manner and used as a insult in the U.K, for example. Tony Greig too, is sensitive enough now not to use this word. It's all about understanding the context, whether the terms is likely to cause offence, the degree of provocation giving rise to the insult and the like. Having said that, there can be no mitigating circumstances for someone such as Darren Lehman to utter his thoughts on the Sri Lankan teanm after having been given out. Shane Watson's pronouncements on Aleem Dar may not amount to the same thing

well well there is alot of comments on this topic isn't there. But why shouldnt there be it's a big story. Cricket should do more to promote anti racism, just as football is doing.
I love the article sir, Gibbs punishment is a fair, desrved one. And like you said in your article the south african players were giving alot of stick to the pakistan bowlers.

Andre nel was having ago at the batsmen every ball, i just cant wait till shoaib is back i'm sure there will be alot of bouncers directed at nels head, i can;t wait. Nel needs a good hiding.

When the Pakistani Cricket team can play a game of cricket without accusations of ball tampering, drug abuse or disgusting fans carrying on like a complete bunch of YAHOO's in the stands - then maybe there would be room for them to be critical!!! The Pakistan cricket team is a damn disgrace to cricket as a sport and an institution! If their fans have to be escorted out of a stadium for ridiculous and unacceptable behaviour - then "animal" seems an adequate description....as for banning sledging in cricket? Please! Leave it be - just make sure you sledge adults who can take it....

I think the decision to punish Gibbs is right. What happens to the South African players when they travel to Australia? Why don't they speak when it is called for. Abusing has increased a lot in South African team and players like Andre Nel should also be reprimanded so that they don't take the spirit of the game away.

okay people enough of this and that, lets add up all the in "favour of gibbs", and see how many of them are white south africans, then we do some statistics and see who really is complaining that gibbs was not racist in his comments, please do quotes gibbs words, word for word , and once there is any mention of pakis in what he has said, then it isn's a general comment anymore.
ITS DAMN RACIST,

and again i am proudly south african, and we dont tolerate such statements.

The Gibbs issue is part of a broader problem in SA Cricket Team.....lack of talent!!! We saw a disgraceful performance by Nel, Harris etc on the field....why??...cos they could not get out their opponents by their talent and control. Gibbs one of the few talented cricketers in the team got caught up with this bully boy attitude, and aggression which got the crowd going ...the rest is history. Gibbs is no racist that is not the issue. SA selectors you have chosen some poor criketers to represent our country..they should be ambassadors for the sport, role models for the kids, instead we have half a team of mediocre criketers who wouldn't even make an Auzzy 3rd team, and who think that they can compete at test level. Auzzies sledge but they are cleaver and subtle about it, not in your face hooligans. They get under your skin mainly cos they are so good, and then throw in a few sledges for good measure...nothing at all wrong with that. SA selectors should shoulder some responsibility for fielding such a mediocre test side when talent in SA cricket abounds. It puts people who really should not be on the test stage in an environment where they can not cope with the level of play, and they resort to abuse to try and cover up their inadequacies. Blame also to the leadership, Captain and Coach are out of their depths in the leadership stakes. We need real leaders,people of substance to mange and lead our national sides, they should set the level of play and moral integrity of the team, they are representing not only a team but a country.

Kamran,

As you can probably see based on these comments that this is indeed a wider problem not just in cricket but throughout the globe. Most of these folks are looking at it either black or white, which doesn't surprise me at all. Anyway i just wanted to respond to this article to inform your readers the exact words of what Gibbs said. I have heard this with my own ears over and over again to be precisely sure of what he said. After the end of an over before lunch this is what the microphone picked up.
Gibbs: "F***ing bunch of animals, bunch of hyenas, f***king go back to the zoo, f***king Pakistanis".

So NO he didn't simply say animals but he specifically said Pakistanis. It's up to you to decide.

Its ridiculous the ban Gibbs received. Here is a man who reacted to taunts made at his team mates...If i have it correct, the Pakistani supporters were allowed to abuse the players without reprucussion? The stewards should have thrown them out. The South African authorities should have thrown them out the ground! Herschelle said what he did in the privacy of his own team...isnt that tantamount to an opinion..he did not racially abuse the crowd, unlike they were doing to the players. I support Gibbs and believe that the supporters should be held. accountable for their actions as well! One of South Africans strengths is their ability to unsettle opposition, ie. where they lack talent they make up in heart...Andre Nel is not the most talented but i challenge anyone to find someone with a bigger heart for their country in world cricket.

Its all fun and game and then someone complains to the match ref.
Who has never abused on the ground? or never in life said something which someONE will find offensive somehow? Personally I don't want a match between mullah 11 vs pope 11 nor am I a fan of people winning the game with the using their tongue .
I think a "Self Monitored Players Union" might be the solutions rather then ICC bans.

I think the whole thing is rediculus, if he Gibbs had said the same things about Australian or English supporters their would have been no problem.

By the definition of racism, what Gibbs said is not racist, should be end of story. I'd love to see one person here try to defend the position that the comments were in fact racist by nature. No one has so far or not that I could find.

Please do if you can.

Calling what he said racist can only be interpreted as either ignorant or racist itself. It's racist because it implies you are saying that calling a non-white group of people
"animals" is racism. Whereas you could never make the argument that calling a group of white supporters "animals" is racist.

Anyhow people making the racist claim seem to have very poor blinded arguments and they probably won't understand my argument. Ultimately though it's stupid to argue with idiots. They'll drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.

No one knows exactly what Gibbs said, the only thing confirmed is the "bunch of animals". Until it is fully established what he said, and on what basis he has been banned, we shouldn't pass any judgement. I would be extremely surprised if he has been banned purely for calling the spectators animals, which is probably not the right call, but in any case considering the stance the ICC (and in particular someone like Chris Broad) has normally kept, Gibbs must have said something genuinely bad. Also, something really has to be done about security, Gibbs should never have been allowed to be abused in the first place, those idiotic "fans" should have been chucked out instantly. Also concerning the SA player's behaviour, I think a few have certainly crossed the line. It's embarrasing to see people here persistently praise SA for "playing hard cricket" etc etc. Hard cricket is not constantly swearing at the opposition and behaving in truly vulgar fashion. It's about what you do with the ball as much as the body language you give. It's fine to stare at the batsman or give a few sarcasic claps, or just give an "honest" opinion on his technique. As long as there is respect, nothing else matters. And it's obvious the SA players have zero respect, and it may cost them later on, as I think we all know how Pakistan can react. Mr. Abbassi may have gone a little overboard with the "vile" behaviour of the SA players, I wouldn't say it was vile, maybe only Nel, he his the single source of the bad blood between the teams, he really is not good for the game, he does not even have the quality to back up his obscene behaviour, unlike McGrath (although he also overdid it at times). It's quite amazing also how rapidly people jump on the "this is PC nonsense" bandwagon, I need not say what type of people they are. However, if the complaint was made by the PCB based on just the "like animals" comment then it is probably a bad call, it may or may not have been racist in nature and that situation one must be big enough and ignore and give Gibbs the benefit of doubt. But ofcourse, the facts are not crystal clear yet. I also think Pakistan fans and players should not concern themselves with this anymore, it's done and dusted. The fans should look forward to the next 2 test matches, hope and pray they win, and the players should pick themselves, hopefully with Shoaib playing from now on, and look to achieve a great feat in winning the series, whilst silencing a few people on the way.

And i tell you one thing. This all nonsense of Pakistani supporters harrassing South African players is just crap. Boucher, Smith and Gibbs these three players were around the batsmen most of the two innings and continuously uttering offensive, racist remarks that were intended for the players and not for the Pakistani supporters.
One time in the second inning when Imran Farhat hit a boundry and Younis khan went up to him and pat him on his back, one close in South African player told imran Farhat sarcastically, 'May be he likes your hairy ass.' It was picked up by wicket microphone and interestingly enough, umpire stood there as if they heard nothing. Man, I tell you one thing, this is no sledging. And this is only one of the several degrading remarks that were picked up by microphone.
Unbelievable, simply unbelievable.

Well..no place for abuses and racism. So no compromise should be done in this context. Gibbs should be penalized more severly and those spectators who caused problem should be dealt according to the law as well....No body should be above law.

WTH? He said they were a bunch of animals (with a few expletives thrown in I hear). What's racist about that?! Maybe he could have got a suspended ban for attacking the fans, but being called animals is hardly racist! I'm South African! I know all the definitions of racism! And being called an animal is not one of them!! ...no more than calling your girlfriend's meddling best friend a bitch or calling the fat guy next door a pig. IMO the Pakistani public's response to this is ridiculous and probably stems from the current issues generated by world opinion of Islam (not that I have a problem with Islam myself). They are just being oversensitive. If that had been a bunch of pissed Aussies or the Barmy Army, they would have just laughed at him.

And let's not forget the Pakistanis started it either....

Im amazed how some of the people in the forum are trying to justify that the remarks were not racist."fuc... Pakistanis" that is as racist as it gets.Shame of Gibbs , shame on Smith who is always crying.

Just scrolling up...I have to say...Rupert, Mark, Victor, Graham, saif, Rogan...HEAR HEAR!!!

As an Englishman with no love whatsoever for the SA team, I have to say that I'm appalled by this ban. Calling a group of abusive supporters a bunch of animals is in no way racist. It's time that this sort of hypersensitivity was suppressed.

On the other hand, if someone could find a way to get Andre Nel punished for his appalling behaviour, I'd be all for it.

why is it that in the past 2 series between pakistan and south africa (including this one), south africa are specifically hurtling abuse towards Pakistani players and supporters? definitely both gibbs and some pakistani supporters are at fault, but whenever such incidients occur, south africa always jump to the occasion of reporting pakistan for so and so misconduct. the same thing doesn't occur when south africa play most other teams, except for australia.

Oh yes, I forgot to mention 2 favorite words that most Pakistani bowlers love to dish out when bowling. I cannot mention them here but I can explain that the word implies doing unnatural acts with ones sister & mother. Credit for pointing these words out to me goes to a good friend of mine who is from Pakistan. But seriously, we're living in a world where one cannot order black coffee before offending somebody or the other. Where have the Benny Hills and Andrew Dice Clays of the world gone?

PS the SA team statiscian works for me...and he reports that "animals" was all Gibbs said.

If the only comments attributed to Gibbs were that the "Pakistanis were behaving like animals", that cannot be construed as a racist comment. The ban appears to be a bit harsh in light of these comments. So I am assuming he had to have said something more that we are not aware of.

However the Pakistanis cannot claim any moral highground as no one but the said players and their on air commentators will ever be able to understand their comments picked up through the stump Mike.

It strange though how one can be banned for such a comment while Glen Mcgrath goes unpunished for asking Sarwan of the WI team what a certain part of Lara's anatomy taste like. Granted Sarwans retort was enough punishment for Glen. But hey these are Austrailian's they can get away with anything it seems.

Anyway for the Pakistanis this is Daryl Hair situation all over again, when they claimed the ball tampering incident is tantamount to calling an entire nation cheats, only for 2 of their players to be caught using steroids.

kamran - Compared to what ICC did to Inzy for trying to assault a guy for calling him Aaloo, Gibbs' punishment was way too harsh

i feel sori for Hashim Amla in this situation... porr innocent guy!

Gibbs wasn't refering to a persons nationality or race. He was refering to there actions. If a person acts like an animal they deserved to be called an animal. It's time for for people to start taking responsibility for there actions instead of calling the race card all the time!!!!

Two wrongs dont make a right, and the principle of mathemetics of two negatives becoming a positive doesnt apply in the principle of this wonderful sport. The behaviour of our fans (which is a very minute segment of our Pakistani fans) was absolutely wrong and they were rightly evicted when the incident of them abusing was reported to the security by the players. It should have been left till that! Those fans were not professionals of the sport, however Gibbs and for that matter a defensive SA team & coach are! And could Gibbs honestly without lying to himself say that it was the 'behaviour' of the fans as 'animals' as he so suggested and as many comments here suggest? And a comment from Murray that playing drug tainted players is ok or not leaves me to suggest playing Gibbs, known for taking and admitting so a bribe is ok????? Hell! We're not even saying that its not ok, even though he shouldnt have reached 94 when surviving two plumb lbw appeals! Gibbs should be fined as well along with a two match ban!

Why is everyone using this article as an opportunity to mention the drug fiasco? To my knowledge this is an article relating to another subject matter. So Gibbs was mistreated by a group of Pakistan supporters, could the abuse have been anywhere as bad as the abuse KP recieved when England last toured? Did England reply to the abuse that SA did? No.

If anyone has any doubts or questions about EXACTLY what Mr. Gibbs said, please see the video of it on www.pakrcric.com ... because he apparently did not just say "bloody animals". He said a lot more than that. You guys listen it out yourself what he said. That is why the punishment given to Gibbs is Right !!! I am south african of black heritage. My parents have had to deal w/ immense racism growing up. My love is in SA but on this issue, I have to side against Gibbs as Racism against anyone is wrong and he was gone against our own SA principles/beliefs.

Imran, please do not mess with the history of a nation. Everybody knows what you Pakistanis did to your own brothers, the Bangladeshis. Look at your own piece of history first.
It is pretty much clear that you all want Gibbs banned from this series. And why not? He is a match winner. You are afraid of him. Paul Harris played a gigantic role in 1st Test win. So, you abused him verbally to get him mentally down! Who are the pathetic fellas here?
The Pakistan team is cursed. Trouble and unwanted incidents follow wherever they go. You just don't have the guts to accept the result of a game.
Have you ever physically involved in any type of game? Many things can be said on the field. Players become physically and mentally stressed. What Gibbs said was a clear consequence of what the Pakistani supporters did. Those uncultured people should be kicked out of South Africa and should never be allowed to visit there ever in life.
However, Gibbs did wrong there. He shouldn't have got agitated and should have remained within the spirit of the game and let the officials handle the matter.
But I agree with Tauhira. The punishment is too much as it was clearly a humanly reaction.

Well this entire situation is a joke, sledging is part of the game, yet this wasn't even sledging it was a comment quite rightly made about the crowd who were in fact acting like animals. Well done Hershelle, you might not me the sharpest tool in the drawer but you might as well stand up for yourself.

As for Nel he is one of the characters that make the game great, long before Pakistan were even a competative test playing nation there were agressive bowlers that would give a bit of lip to the batsmen and its what makes the game special rather then it being played by a bunch of robots.

"I have difficulty beleiving that someone as obviously stupid as him plays game after game in international cricket and literally gets away with murder time and again" That goes down as foolish quote of the day, unless you have any proof that Nel kills someone every game then well, bit of a silly comment.

As for stump mikes, keep them on, I loved hearing the comments during the ashes, Warnie was calling Bell the Sherminator in refrence to a film character, well do you see a bunch of English, ugly ginger people complaning ? no, its pathetic. If you cant handle playing the sport then don't play it, thats a fairly simple concept.

I just wish that all these sub-continental teams would just stop bloody moaning every time some issue comes up, stop calling the racism card really, its not helping sort out the actual racism yet it gives match bans to people who essentially haven't done anything wrong. Grow up.

I think everyone who loves cricket should be distressed by the increase in tasteless and abusive behaviour by players on the field, including pressurizing the umpire. Australia have continued to do this in recent years, and some of their appealing is no better than cheating. In my opinion, this whole issue of standards of conduct became a major problem with Steve Waugh's Australian side, who bent the rules and abused opponents and umpires freely. This unpleasant and unpsorting behaviour is now a general problem, not confined to one team, and it is the responsibility of the ICC to stamp on it hard and fast. I don't condone the behaviour of the spectators who were abusive, but they were punished, and Gibbs also should be punished. I am not sure whether his remarks were "racist" per se, but I do believe that calling someone else an animal is unacceptable, and should be dealt with severely. Overall, the problem is a problem for cricket as a whole, and it is long past time that the ICC intervened, established much clearer standards, and returned the game to a more honourable standard of conduct. But will the ICC ever have the independence or courage to do so?

I think everyone who loves cricket should be distressed by the increase in tasteless and abusive behaviour by players on the field, including pressurizing the umpire. Australia have continued to do this in recent years, and some of their appealing is no better than cheating. In my opinion, this whole issue of standards of conduct became a major problem with Steve Waugh's Australian side, who bent the rules and abused opponents and umpires freely. This unpleasant and unpsorting behaviour is now a general problem, not confined to one team, and it is the responsibility of the ICC to stamp on it hard and fast. I don't condone the behaviour of the spectators who were abusive, but they were punished, and Gibbs also should be punished. I am not sure whether his remarks were "racist" per se, but I do believe that calling someone else an animal is unacceptable, and should be dealt with severely. Overall, the problem is a problem for cricket as a whole, and it is long past time that the ICC intervened, established much clearer standards, and returned the game to a more honourable standard of conduct. But will the ICC ever have the independence or courage to do so?

The way the SA players conducted themselves throughout the match was a disgrace. Forget the usual suspect Nel, even a new player like Harris was over the top with his constant verbals from day 1. While Pakistan has had its fair share of issues SA cricket has not been totally devoid of problems - so there is little to be gained from comments targeting the Pakistan team especially as they weren't even involved in this incident.

I think the problem is with Pakistan. When India traveled to south africa, there were no such incidents, but come pakistan, just in the very first match we see such incidents. Pakistanis must learn discipline, that is my humble suggestion.

Cheers,

I think the verdict on Gibbs was too harsh. The players are under constant pressure to perform on the field and the comments made reflect his frustrations and nothing else. There are things which even Indians and I am sure Pakistanis will say which can be construed as racist. The more serious action should be directed at the bowlers like Nel who quite freely offend the batsmen and its an insulting sight even from the living rooms of our homes

Come on people. i have read many people saying that "bunch of animals" is not a raciest word. I think they didnot see the whole video. Some one also said "F Pakistanis". These two words were enough to make everyone in Pakistan be angry on SA. And if they meant some particular player with"F pakkistanis",then well they should have made it clear in stump mic because the whole world was watching it. And i am quiet surprised the way SA coach has justified the event. I hope Shoaib AKhtar bowls a bouncer to BIG MOUTH NEL and shut him up.

I am just fad up with spectators who hurl verbal abuse towards players just because they paid the price of the admission. I am a Pakistani living in the United States and I see the same issue here as well. For goodness sake watch the game peacefully; support your team but don’t be abusive towards the opposition.

Not really sure why he is being punished at all. Calling a group of a crowd a bunch of animals is surely only considered racist by somebody that is searching for racism. I'm sure that I was called worse by my coach after a bad training session. It makes me a little bit sick to be sticking up for a south african as I am an aussie that had to sit through the winge session that was last years aus vs SA test series. It seems to me as though sticks and stones are no longer the only things that brake bones.

I can however see the irony of the side that complains the most about 'racist taunts' being punished for an alleged one of their own.

South African team used to be a good bunch ...but since Graeme Smith has taken over the captaincy , the bully he is ,,he wont leash his pupps like nel or gibbs or Andrew hall..what really amazed me was when i saw that roockie paul harris swearing at pakistani batsman...NEL and HARRIS u guys are lucky that i wasnt one of thoese batsmen.. lets take south africa outta of the test playing nations like before apartheid cz they havent change a bit..

The defense that Hereschelle Gibbs has put forward and the defense that seems to be supported by Graeme Smith is that the comment was for his teammates to hear.

This is a cause of concern … somehow it is OK for the teammates together to carry bigoted feelings but as a public front they need to hide it.

I am not sure if this is at the heart of the ICC’s or CSA’s policy. I believe that both the ICC and, particularly CSA with South Africa’s background of racial injustice, has put these clauses in their constitution to make sure that at least Cricketers are hate free. Their intent is not to have the Cricketers be nice to one another publicly and planning a lynching in private.

The mere fact that Herschelle Gibbs uttered those words is an insight into his mind --- and tells us how he thinks. On top of that it is being justified as loose conversation between the teammates. If that is true than Greame Smith should have come forward and have reported his player’s racist outburst himself rather than wait for Inzamam to complain and then defend the remarks. The mere fact, that Greame Smith is defending the statements as conversations among the teammates, allows us an insight into how Graeme Smith thinks himself as well. As if it does not matter how you actually think as long as you don’t say it publicly. The reality is that according to the ICC and CSA’s true meaning of the clauses is to promote Cricket as a gentlemen’s game and to promote clean and unbiased thinking amongst its players and teams.

Somehow that Zimbabwe Cricket’s decision to revamp its Cricket to favor the underprivileged looks like a way to clean up world sport.

That said, I think that authorities need to implement crowd control when the barmy army goes on with it’s antics as well as the Ausi supporters are also monitored exactly the way the Pakistanis, Indian, Sri Lankan or Bangladeshi supporters are monitored.

Regards,
Umair

South Africa is a completely classless team. As much as I respect their cricketing ability, they ought to be better ambassadors for their nation. You are not playing club cricket, this is an international between the representative teams of two proud nations. And what is all your cockiness about South Africa? What have you ever won?

Gibbs should not have been banned for two matches. Hey, s**t happens. Next test on Friday! Big can of whoopass again for Pakistan. Gibb's ban gives another new player the opportunity to show the steel of South-African cricketers! Go the Proteas!!!!!!!!

As with peoples comments to a previous blog, it seems that this one too seems divided along racial lines. Intersting. It seems as though Pakistanis have become much disliked.
First of all the SAFs go to Australia and complain about racism for some time during it and even after the tour.
Then one of their players get done and suddenly its not his fault? I was watching the match and heard this whole incident live on air. Apart form the "animals" comment Gibbs kept saying "f****** Pakistanis" along side the "bloody animals" part. So i guess it was part of the same sentence.

Players like McGrath, Nel, Gibbs have consistently been racially abusing players from other countries, especially from the sub-continent. They deserved to be punished severely. Laws should be brought to cricket where the team facing abuses from the fans immediately are awarded runs. This would automatically stop the fans from behaving badly. Also punishment in terms of money is stupid, the punishment should also include stripping of their performance in the current match. If Gibbs wanted to swear, he could have very easily done so in his native language. Seems to me he wanted to be heard which only magnifies his intentions.

When Andre Nel and Co swear and abuse the batsmen(especially the coloured people), commentators Barry Richards, Jackman etc find it hilarious and feel that these kinds of antics is what makes cricket an interesting and fun game to watch. They absolutely love it. Now when Sreesanth(Indian bowler) was having a few words with the SA players, Richards and co found it too hot to handle. They were like "Arent the umpires going to do something about this?? He is going over the limit. The match referee may like to have a word with him at the end of the match blah blah blah blah".They go on and on and on and on about that one player and one incident. Listen whitey Richards we are fed up of your double standards. The ACC should let ICC run the show alone. The ACC should have a major say in all that happens. Without the asian teams, the ICC is nothing, a BIGGGG ZEROOOOOOOOO.

The white race was never superior and will never be. You have always been an unfair prejudiced lot and you always will be.

its purely double standards, as a white person, i feel the asian bloc always get mis-treated whilst touring places like australia and south africa... one rule for aussies etc nd another for the asian bloc... its a farce

Pakistan lost the game but managed to win against Gibbs.Part of the crowd behaved like animals and Gibbs spoke the truth.Come on Pakistan play the game and get on with it. Dont look to stump mikes to cloud a defeat.

These things should not be got out of proportion, South Africa complained of Racial taunts in Australia. The odd comment not particlarly directed at individual is not the same as insulting somebody consistently even if that is not racial but seems to be accepted as sledging. While not condoning racism comments should be put in perspective. Perhaps as importantly the Pakistanis have no right to take the moral high ground having whitewashed their drugtakers

To those who want to view the incident, it can be seen here:
http://cricketvideosunplugged.blogspot.com/2007/01/sounds-like-boucher.html

I agree with most of Kamran Abassi's article. However, I don't think sledging in general is bad. It brings the best out of some players and makes the game more competitive. It's in every sport and cricket should be no exception. But racist slurs do not have a place in any society or game. I was surprised that Gibbs didn't get banned longer, especially considering his history in the game. Had this been Shoaib Akhtar, I imagine he would have been banned for half a year at least.

ICC match referee went way over the top! What is so racial about calling any one 'bloody animal'?? Insult, yes. Racist? NO
Players are humans after all. When they are abused, they get angry and they react. What is racist in their expressing anger?

how is that controversy seems to follow the Pakistani team wherever they go???Perhaps they should act like grown ups and show all the fire and fury on field rather than off it...Remember after all the voices shouting for Gibb's head subside ,wat remains would be the fact that Pakistani played bad cricket and lost as simple as that....
As regards Nel and co are concerned ,they seem to be playing cricket like spoilt brats really one cant help but spot shades of colonial dominance in that...may be i am wrong ,maybe they really play their game that hard,but i (and millions other sub continent viewers (those "animals" incl))are no sherlock holmes whose eyes are trained to look at anything but the obvious.....its time for those blessed souls to either sledge the australian team with equal ferocity (and get fucked in the process)as they do the hapless and (at times) spineless Asian teams or to give up sledging all together......

OK he should not have been banned for being a racist.

I think we should ban him anyway for being such a twat. He thinks he is Tom Cruise in those shades!

He should have been banned a long time ago for match fixing. Justice has been done although albeit in an indirect way!

If you read through all the messages on here, every single white person supports Gibbs' actions.Tells you a lot doesnt it? :)

Personal slurs of any kind should not be tolerated be they racial, sexual or about one's heritage. They should all be punished. Sadly,
having played cricket around the world I can recognise these slurs in several languages including most of the Asian ones so it is NOT just the South Africans doing it - all teams should be stopped and/or punished whatever langauge they use.

Ok this little incident has been played out of proportion. Gibbs was only banned because the incident happened in South Africa, which has a large South Asian population and suffers from a serious case of post-apartheid oversensitivity as far as racism and race pride is concerned. He called Pakistani fans 'animals'.... weren’t they acting like animals by hitting Ntini and abusing Harris? I honestly would have expected much more from a furious team mate. Imagine a Pakistani getting hit on the head by an Indian flagpole... Gibbs is no angel, but he has been dealt too harshly.

What about those fans who took the liberty of abusing South Africans in their own country! Were they planning to sue the ground authorities for racism after being ejected? I had the misfortune of watching a Pak Vs SA ODI at Rawalpindi and the abuse hurled at Ntini and Co went beyond racism. Instead of punishing reacting players, ICC should do something about crowd abuse. Scouts should be planted in the crowd and any abuse targeted at the fielder, be dealt with sternly.

About 'that idiot Nel', one important thing to be taken into consideration is that we have a couple of sensible Umpires on the field who can listen to every thing being said. If Nel had babbled anything abusive, the umpires would surely had taken notice and had reported it. As a recent capture on the TV showed, his comments to an Indian batsman were about the pitches in SA being bouncier and more enjoyable to bowl on. So does this count as abuse??? In a game which is fast decrementing the bowler's pay check, I certainly do enjoy watching Nel bowl as his chatter and energy adds so much to the game.

Will somebody please explain to me how one can construe that, Herschelle Gibbs, who himself is categorized as a 'coloured' player in South Africa, is of a 'racist' mindset. The fact of the matter is that, when it comes to cricket, the subcontinent teams and their cricket boards have a huge persecution complex. It is high time that players, officials and even the media( best exemplefied by Mr. Abassi) from the subcontinent climb down from the moral high ground, as that would be in the best interests of subcontinental cricket.

there are not many angels in the cricket world and the wheel continually turns.the bad guy today is replaced by another tomorrow.it makes for interesting reading the holier than though comments of the offended teams supporters.in this case pakistan need something to air freshen the smell off their drug abusers and gibbs has provided it!!!! he got 2 matches get over it and move on.

"As a Pakistani" comments of SOL GOODE, a Pakistani??? haha tell me another joke sol!!

I wonder what happened to the complaint that was supposed to be lodged by the Pakistani team against Nel. I hope they go through with it. He needs a few lessons in people skills before he reaches the World Cup islands.Someone ought to knock some sense in to him before its too late and he gets ganked, down in the Caribbean by a BRO ;)

David Smith contends that the "Afikaner spirit" is alive within the South African team and that one needs but "scratch the surface" for the racist views to come out.
I find it truly mindboggling how often people completely fail to recognise the overt racism in their own statements whilst discussing the very issue.
Negative generalisations are often accepted / overlooked as long as the group being described has been sufficiently vilified (Nazis, Afrikaners etc.)
David, do yourself a favour and replace the word Afrikaner (as in "Afrikaner spirit") with Pakistani, Jewish, black, - or your choice of group description - and it suddenly looks quite ugly, doesn't it?
Furthermore, the Afrikaners, David, are a group of South Africans that speak the language called "Afrikaans" (a language stemming from Dutch). This group is 99.9% white as very few couloured (people of mixed European and Hottentot, Khoi or Malaysian descent) or black South Africans would want the tag. Ditto for all English speaking south Africans.
There were three Afrikaners in the 1st test against Pakistan, AB de Villiers, Jaques Kallis and Andre Nel. The team also included two English-speaking "coloured" players, one player of Asian descent, one Xosa and four English-speaking South Africans.
Quite an eclectic mix to have an "Afrikaner spirit". Whatever that may mean.

Salam everyone. Players should play international cricket to play criket in a proffesional manner and to represent their countries. If the players on-field behaviour is bad, and if a specific crowds behaviour is bad, the image of that particular country is affected. For example, if you take a bowler like Andrew Nel, hes a good bowler, i think hes good for cricket, and i love watching him play because hes commited and is passionate, but as long as he doesnt cross that line. He just wont shut up. Cricket is a game, not played by words but by a bat and a ball. Players these days try to get into each others minds a lot. The talking should be done by bat and ball. When the bat and ball speak loudly, then that is hard cricket! Also pakistan fans were known for their pitch invasions in the 1999 World Cup in England which affected the image of the country vastly. Cricket shouldnt as a game suffer due to a few individuals who try and foul mouth teams, players and countries. If there are a few individulas who act like "animals" as Herschelle Gibbs put it the whole country should not be blamed. There should be a mutual respect between all players for eachother. The crowds should also respect the players, no matter what race or religion anyone is. Of course there will be emotions and anger at times when things arent going your way, that happens with everyone, but it is up to the characters of the players to cope with it. Cricket is a global, multicultural, game, and most countries have players of different sects/religions representig them. South Africa have blacks, such as Ntini, Amla, Prince, - Hashim Amla is a Muslim. Pakistan play Danish Kaneria, who is Hindu. England play Monty and Sajid Mahmood, West indies have players from different countries and different religions, India have Muslims, Sikhs and Hindus playing for them. New Zealand have a Hindu in Jeetan Patel, Sri Lanka have Muslims and Hindus, Bangladesh have Muslims, Christians and Hindus. If Gibbs said something bad, then South Africans as a whole are not to be blamed, just the individual. South Africans have acknoledged blacks within the community, have a black leader in Nelson Mandela, and the quota system gave equal oppurtunities to the coloured people. Also Pakistan as a nation shouldnt be blamed for a few "animal" like supporters who deter the image of the country. Since the Pakistani cricketers have embraced religion in everyday life, their cricket has got better, and most of the team dont sledge, and just get on with it. Islam doesnt teach disrespecting other people, but to respect them, no matter what race or religion they are. Look at Hashim Amla, he is a quiet player who gets on with it, and has let his bat do the talking in the last game. He isnt interested in all that sledging, even when hes fielding at short leg, or silly point for South Africa where most fielders would like to distract the batsman.
Gibbs i belive was true in saying that the bunch of pakistani fans "were like a bunch of animals", although i dont think it was neccessary. He could have said it anywhere else. He was treated harshly for speaking the truth. But it is a lesson to everyone. Cricket is not about badmouthing, or sledging but playing the game in the true spirit, and letting the bat and ball do the talking. Bradmans Invincibles, or Clive Lloyds or Viv Richards teams never needed to sledge like teams do these days. They bowled ferociously, and batted without fear. Now that is hard cricket. When i go out and bat in match sledging doesnt affect my mind as much as good pressure bowling when my patience is really tested.
I think there should be more respect towards players, from the crowds and other players, as this will help improve the image of cricket. If teams, players, and crowds are suffer, then cricket suffers. The players playing good hard cricket and the crowds supporting their teams, really is what cricket is all about. And it should stay that way.

Majid

And yeah in response to some of the messages about we being extra sensitive to the race issue. Well my dear friends, your cousins and ancestors basically destroyed us and the rest of the non white world in ancient times. Being a little sensitive to race issues isnt such a bad idea guys coz what if history were to repeat itself ;)) Now, we wouldnt want that, do we?? :))

BTW is Gibbs digging his nose in the image above? :) LOL digging for gold eh?

It's strange how certain team gets away with "excessive sledging" and racially motivated coments. Particularly the ones that are "white" it's sickening to say the least!! The non-white teams do nnot have anything thing racial to say, we are comfortable with our selves hence we do not need to resort to those tactics to win. For a team that complained aboout abuse in Australia, one would think their behaviour towards it would be one of "ZERO TOLERANCE", but it goes to show what they are willing to do then complain about it.

I am a strong believer that all are "bigoted" at soem level, it;s the degree to which we show it...I bet given free range you would see how "sickening" players would behave. The Entire SA team shoudl be banned for it and the Captian for CONDONING it needs to be punished also, if it was Pakistani player charged I bet Inzi would have been fined as well.

Right - Gibbs calls someone "animals" and that is racist? What nonsense. What is the racist implication in that?

Given what the Paki supporters were doing that is the most decent thing one can say about them! Would it have been better to call them b**tards? That is not racist right?

ICC is behaving stupidly and in a hypersensitive manner and the Paki board - is taking a high moral stand where there is none.

re the comment made by hannes on 16/01/2007 at 8.53AM if Gibbs has indeed used the word Paki to referr to the section of the crowd then i feel the punishment is well deserved and indeed in my opinion can even be seen as being lenient, as a Britsh citizen of Pakistani origin it is a well know fact that the word "Paki" is a racially deragotary term used often in a similar extreme way as a certain word to refer to people of a black African origin , which the intelligent readers should be able to work out without my need to mention such a vile word, if Paki was indeed the word used then it should be punished, ignorance cannot be used as an excuse cricket is now a truly global sport and such comments must be viewed in such a perspective

I wonder where Mr Abbasi and his Pak fans were during the last India-Pak test series ? The abuse some of the Indian players had to put up with, from the likes of Shahid Afridi makes Andre Nel and Gibbs seem saintly in comparison.

Agree with Mr. Abbasi. There really is not room for anyone to abuse someone else on the basis of their nationality, gender, or whatever.

I also agree with Imran that Mickey Arthur shooting off this mouth is so damned lame - it is one of the worst excuses and he should be punished as well - for 'aiding and abetting racism' on the part of his players.

South Africa or any other country say Australia are gung-ho when it comes to handing out abuse, while they whine and whimper when they get a taste of their own medicine. The instances are numerous - The South Africa in Australia case, the Hashim Amla case. And the converse? the present one, the Sreesanth case, Andre ever-the-loudmouth Nel.

I say ban not just Gibbs, also ban the owners of the 'ears' his comments were meant for. And kick out the coach who defends him with lame excuses.

And make this universal. Stamp out not just racist excuse, but all abuse from the game including the lame and stupid comments players and coaches make as a part of (Steve Waugh's) 'mental disntegration'.

You want to distract the players to get 'em out? Go chat to them in a friendly manner and try to distract them if possible. If you cant, shut your trap and field at your position. A single abusive comment, and you're out should be the mantra.

I agree with Buz Trevor. The comments that Gibbs made were made with regards to a section of the crowd and knowing Gibbs, he would have made that statement no matter what race or ethnic group they belonged to.

He was simply stating that the players were copping abuse from a section of the crowd.

To Mr. David Smith. I don't think that reversing the prejudice against Afrikaans speaking people will remove racism. It only exacerbates the situation. Also, Smith, Nel and Hall are sledgers and sledging is allowed within the rules of cricket and there were no reports of any of those three dishing out racist comments. I'm sure the Pakistani team would have lodged a complaint if there they made any racist comments.

You can say that Apartheid was brought about by dictatorial Afrikaaners, but you cannot say that Afrikaaners are all racist. That would just be another gross generalisation. As would saying all Germans are Anti-Semetic. I personally have met some of the most peaceful, liberal and open minded people who were Afrikaaners.

Yes, racism is unacceptable. But I do not see racism in the SA cricket side of today.

Gibbs should maybe have been warned to watch what he says in the middle, but should never have gotten a 2 test ban. He has been treated unfairly.

i think gibbs deserves what he got. i also think that bulldog andre nel should be banned if he cannot control his bloody mouth.

Firtsly I am a South African, so maybe I will be accused of been a little biased. However I am still confused why the comments were racist. I think it was an off the cuff remark and was 100% accurate because the one group of Pakistani supports was behaving like animals.
I would however like to state that I think a lot of the psost are been racist in 2 ways.
1) It is not fair to label all Pakistani supporters as been agressive and behaving badly. I was at the game and sat in front of a group of Pakistani supports who were very loud but in no way abusive and I believe the same can be said for most of teh supporters there
2) I think the anti South African comments are unacceptable. If you are saying that it is right to ban Herschelle for stating what you percieve as anti-Pakistani remarks, don't you think it is a little Hypocritical to in the same breath state racist remarks yourself? South Africa is a country with many problems. Some of our people are racist, that does not give you the right to state that we are all racists.
I do agree that sledging is an issue that must be addressed, but it is part of the game and as such you can not blame players for doing something that is allowed.

And if anyone is interested, this is really what was said by Gibb.

http://www.thestar.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=3630783

Its no laughing matter this. This is a serious offence. The punishment he received wasnt enough. Yeh dil mangay more !!! :)

I have seen Indian crowds behave very poorly with visiting teams - especially with Pakistan and WI. Many shout religious slurs against Pakistan (even though 3 players in the Indian set-up are Muslim) and racial insults against the West Indies. Just because these elements are brown, doesn't excuse their behaviour. I am Indian and am ashamed of them. I have even corrected and cautioned many of them myself. Many of them are beyond help and should be banned from watching sports in a public setting.
On the other hand, Pakistani players are no paragon of virtue either. In any Ind-Pak game, you can see a volley of insults being launched by Pakistan players (especially Afridi, Akhtar and Co.) at Indian batsmen at all times. I think that is hard cricket and Indian batsmen should be prepared for it and so should the Pakistanis. The source of the sledging is irrelevant. This is a man's game and if you cannot stand the heat, then you need to get out of the kitchen. From personal experience I can tell you that there is sledging involved even at the college level in India, so we are not the sheep we are made out to be. Just because a white person is sledging at a brown person, doesn't make him racist. I actually WANT Nel to taunt Indian players like he did Gilchrist. He makes a complete fool of himself, but he is not racist. He treats all opposition as the enemy. His behaviour is a disgrace and he cannot be excused under the premise of being a colourful "character". I also think Smith should not have whined about Akhtar sledging him. If your players dish it out, then you better be prepared to get some back, because it is coming.
There is some inconsistency about how players from different countries are treated, but this is simply because cricketers from Aus, SA and NZ (English players are relatively well-behaved) are familiar with the rules. The rules do not say anything about talking to a batsman on the crease. So you see plenty of Australian and SA players chattering away at an opponent. However, the rules clearly warn the fielding team against making any sendoff gestures at the batsman when he is dismissed. You will find that most of the times an Indian is fined (Sreesanth, or Venkatesh Prasad in the World Cup) it has has been because they gestured at the batsman after dismissing him. As far as excessive appealing is concerned, I think the ICC needs to take a closer look at its laws. Teams from the sub-continent are blamed a lot more simply because they have spinners and close in fielders. Any appeal made by this circle and the bowler is louder and usually there is a lot of noise around. The umpires need to learn to be thick-skinned, period. Warne is an exception, becaue in my opinion he doesn't intimidate. He "works" on the umpire. Talking with him, telling him what he was doing etc.
I will end my book by saying that Gibbs was in all likelihood not making a racist remark. I have seen Indian fans behave like animals and I am sure sections of fans all over the world do the same. It doesn't make him a racist when he is merely labeling their behaviour.

I am wondering what happened to the game of gentlemen that cricket used to be. I remember as a kid watching great batsmen like Gavaskar walk away without a peep when given out even when they were clearly not out and opposing teams congratulating players on getting a 50 or a 100. Sledging, B.S, abuse have no part in the game. I would have more respect for a team that loses sporting than one that wins behaving like a bunch of crybabies.

I am ashamed at the behaviour of the Pakistani supporters. This is not the first time they have behaved like animals and got away using the race card. I have had the opportunity to watch Pakistan team play test cricket in pakistan, England and ODI in Sharjah on more than 50 times and the Behaviour of our people is always boorish, speacial racist remarks against various players are raised by them in Urdu and Punjabi. Vinod kambli was called Kaalia, negro, west indian, while the ozzies were called pigs and dogs and kaffirs. I think pakistani supporters need to to be educated in the intricacies of the game as majority of them are unaware of the same and hacks like mr. Abbasi think twice before writing unsubstantiated matter terming it as racial. Question to Mr. Abbasi.Animals, animalistic behaviour-- please elucidate what is racist about these remarks.

The only way to counter this kind of behavior is to strike back the same way. The Pakistani cricket team when it goes abroad, becomes a feeble bunch. First, you have to counter (and shut your opponent up) by playing good aggresive cricket like your opponent is playing or harder, and start sledging the way they are sledging. Open your freaking eyes and learn from how Javed Miandad used to play. Remember, he wouldn't take abuse from anybody. Learn from the past greats. This is how the winning teams are playing and you (the Pakistani team) need to step up to the plate. Don't get bloodied and cry, for God's sake hit back and bloody the opponent.

Wow!!! people really showing their interests and views, guess i'm a little late.
1) If Gibbs branded those wild spectators who sweared at and abused Paul Harris and Ntini, as "bunch of animals", then he wasn't wrong! The punishment could have been monetary or 1 ODI.
2) Nel, should start his life again, going to a decent school having decent people around him, that might help. He's aggressive for no reason, he's a good cricketer, but his behaviour will definitely ruin his career, sooner or later.
3) Umpire Bucknor did have a few words with Nel for his behaviour. Mr. Doctrove...well, he should again be reminded, that he is a Test level umpire and he has a lot of authority on the field, but for some reason, he looks very quiet and shy, probably doesn't like talking to strangers.
4) I even heard, one of the commentator, probably on the 4th or 5th day, saying "pakis in trouble". But then, maybe I was very irritated because of Nel's behaviour and was hearing ghosts whisper.
I still appreciate the whole South African team for having multi-racial team as a proper unit and for playing amazing cricket.
Rupert...nobody wants the "tea & cucumber sandwiches" culture to creep in BUT I think you would also agree that Nel might not stop himself from saying things to a batsman for 20 overs, but only once, if the batsman replies, the umpires get involved, the whole scenario changes, as if the batsman committed a sin. But anyway.....lets have a nice cup of tea & some sandwiches!!! no points for guessing which ones though ;-)

All you guys getting worked up into a lather of indignation, can I point out a small fact here. The Pakistani supporters who were loudly racially abusing Harris were in fact in the family enclosure at Supersport Park. So while they were running off at the mouth swearing, ranting and wantonly absuing (there were disgusting sexual references made) they were doing it in front of little kids who had come to enjoy a game of cricket. Gibb's comments were silly, sure but the behaviour of the Pakistani supporters was gut wrenchingly sick. No wonder Gibbs was angry, and understandably so.

Kamran is as objective as ever in summarizing the match in general and this incident in particular. Now I don't know about Gibb's ancestry and don't give a damn about it really. Racial slur is a slur no matter where it comes from. Getting a two matches' ban' serves him right. He should have know better. But what amazes me more is the nature and contents of comments coming from people of western origin, it was apparent when Kamran drew some comparison between Shane Warne and Abdul Qadir and now it is pretty obvious. They would defend their lot, no matter what. Now THIS is racism and should always
be confronted.

One swallow doesn't make a summer. But a whole flock sure does. South Africans have plenty of racist tensions and they each express it in different ways. Gibbs might think of others as animals, which is probably the worst he has been called! Andre Nel, you are a disgrace to cricket, and to sport, and to your nation. You may not be racist, but you're a boring monkey whose trick is getting to be a little too repetitive. South Africa, fix your own problems before you call others names.

I will add three comments:
1. Why we are comparing SA players acts to spectators? Players are professional and we should expect a profession representing his country, while spectators could be any one, a SA fan could carry Pakistan flag and could aggrevate a SA players, an Indian fan could carry Pakistan flag and could revenge a SA player, an Aussie fan could carry Pakistan flag and could abuse a SA player. A brown skin doesnt mean a Pakistani heritage. So we should not use a spectator bad behaviour as an excuse for a professional player abusive response. Because a player wearing SA or Pakistani uniform is for sure representing his country and should behave like an ambassador.

2. I think match referee punished Gibb with the minimum possible punishment under the ICC codes of conduct for racism, and thus shoot two birds with one shot:
a). Handed minimum punishment for a disgraceful crime.
b) Diverted attention from actual culprits (Nel, Harris and Boucher).

If it was a response to spectator abuse then we should have expected it from Ntini, but he is a sportsman and shows his response through his performance.

3. I think the biggest disgrace should be on the match officials, especially incompetent Billy Doctrove, too polite Steve Bucknor and biased Hunter (third umpire). They all were watching Nel and co cursing with every single ball but they didnt intervene. Either Doctrove and Bucknor are raised in some Ghetto of Carribean where "F" words are part and parcel of a kitchen language, and don't upset them at all, or they are after the game of gentlemen.

The real problem lies with how Australia and England have been allowed to take abuse aka sleding to a new level. Just like the betting/bribery scandals that failed to touch the
crooks simply because I dare say they were "whites". Period! End of story. Period! Period! Period! Period!

Let us take a good hard look at how England and Australia have been allowed to bring the game into disrepute.

and you know what, the South Africans are simply doing what the "masters" are doing.

Of course if a Pakistani player had called anyone even a non player an animal.......

I think players of Asian countries also could pass racial slurs, only thing is that they are not in English and hence not caught right away. I do not think Asians themselves are saints and all others - poor souls needing redemption

Hiya everybody,
Totally agree with you Kamran and i dont think that the sentence was harsh not at all but i will agree with the match ref. One thing i must add is that these pakistani fans who allegedly called the South African cricketer names agreeably have not done good for our cricket loving nation. The SA coach is a disgrace, how can he coach people with such a childish mentality??the mind boggles he stated that he didn't believe these stumps mics were right (thats cause your boys antics have been caught red handed!) If it was one of the Pakistanis God forbid what commotion would have been caused! These guys( the RSA team) are players we admire especially Gibbs..shame on you dude.Sledging is a part of cricket a little harmless fun to get the blood going and see if a cricketer will bow under that pressure but Racism is something we want to totally obliterate from this world and to see it in this team is a sorry state.... a sad day for cricket!!!hmmm

and i felt bad for south africans when they were in austrailia last year...but after seen the display of south african's behavior in first test, i hope they get same treatment again....

I dont think people actually heard Gibb;s comments right. I watched it on Youtube and after saying" bunch of animals, " he added " f****ng Pakistanis". That to me was just unacceptable.

Hi

I feel racism/intimidation is all part of the game. Please dont assume that Indians or Pakistanis dont do it. Perhaps english as a medium can hamper our efforts. And U cant even imagine what kind of atmosphere used to prevail during Indo-Pak matches given the animosity involved. A comment about Ur race is as innocuous as any f word used with generosity in our sub-continent. We feel real bad coz our teams arent playing that well.

Gibbs's remarks, made shortly before the lunch interval on Sunday, were clearly audible over the stump microphones.

"F***ing bunch of f***ing animals. F***ing go back to the zoo, it's not f***ing Pakistan this," Gibbs said.

Hmmm..are these RACIST comments? Methinks so -"f**cking animals. F**king go back to the zoo, its not f**king Pakistan, this" - sounds pretty f**king racist to me!

Someone said :"what really amazed me was when i saw that roockie paul harris swearing at pakistani batsman"

Exactly!!!!! I couldnt believe it either. He did it to the Indian batsmen too. Sledging Sachin Tendulkar on Harris' first match...can you believe it?? This guy might have been in his diapers when Sachin was smashing bowlers all around.

So my Gibbs supporters where was the ICC and the match referee when this was happening??? How come only Sreesanth and us Asians always in trouble with the ICC law? Is the ICC law white too? hahahaha

Gibbs deserved what he got. And the spectators were thrown out of the ground - and that fact should have gotten more press. Shame on them for behaving poorly with the sportsmen on the field. they are both wrong in their behavior and deserve appropriate punishment.

To say: "F***ing bunch of animals, bunch of hyenas, f***king go back to the zoo, f***king Pakistanis" - is offensive to me. And if it offends me, I am sure it offends others as well. Hence - the punishment is deserved for both the player and the spectator. In fact I would say the spectator should have a 1 year ban or more on attending any sports event in South Africa or elsewhere if that could be administered somehow!

I think Gibbs got banned not just because of the word "animals", indeed other much more explicit clearly racist language was used,which the commentators also alluded to without obviously mentioning the exact words. there is no doubt about that, so all those posters "with so what" bandwagon, plse just accept that and somehow just stop trying to justify racist behaviour. Do you really think that SA board would accept the verdict of 2 match ban for Gibbs just uttering the words "animals". I am astonished that their coach seems to think that racist slurs are ok as long as only his team mates can hear them-mind boggles. Incidentally the coach doesn't seem to be going on about just "animals" propraganda as alot of ill informed posters here are doing, perhaps he knows the truth. Secondly playing the game hard is one thing but Andre Nels behaviour is just pathetic with unrelenting abuse after every delivery, although i will say that he does it against most teams. I remember against Eng, commentators flagged it up as a serious issue, the English commentators that is. SA commentators, needless to say, turned a blind eye. Im not saying, dont play hard, but his hysterionics essentially amount to cheating by unfairly intimidating & disturbing players concentration. He got as good as he gave against Aussies, but then again in this so called gentlemans game, do two wrongs make a right? Peace