Gibson's excuse for poor Sri Lanka show worrying

20 August 2018 - 08:22
By Reader Letter
South Africa coach Ottis Gibson.
Image: Telford Vice South Africa coach Ottis Gibson.

After reading Ottis Gibson's comments about the recent less-than-pleasing tour of Sri Lanka, I feel insulted. I expected South Africa to go out for a win.

Gibson should have warned us that his team wasn't going to Sri Lanka for a win. That would have helped us decide whether or not to watch the series.

His comments are misleading. The Proteas were outplayed in all tests. They won One Day Series by 3-2 and then lost the only T20.

The World Cup he's talking about is a 50 overs format.

If he was preparing for World Cup, his team should have done well in the other two unaffected formats. He talks about leaving out Imran Tahir, and that is worrying.

In the second Test they were warned that the Colombo pitch would be turning, but instead fielded one front line spinner, Keshav Maharaj.

Someone came with excuse that our batsmen can't play spin. Jacques Kallis and Graeme Smith have impressive batting records in the subcontinent. As cricket-loving South Africans, we still want to see our boys fighting.

Richardson Mzaidume

Pimville