Wonder if Symonds was having any domestic problems? These days the one reason attributed to players being off the field is either because they are having babies or having a marital discord. Is there an irony to all of this? Herschelle Gibbs’ tale of woes runeth over.
Herschelle Gibbs played in the Twenty20 match against Kenya. But he was missing in action for the one day internationals. The reason being cited was that Gibbs had broken the curfew for team members and hence, would be going back to serve punishment, read rehabilitation. Gibbs was recently in the news for his break up from his wife of a year, Tanielle, in what was alleged was a case of naked ambitions over marital compromise over the lifestyle of cricketers that also proved the downfall of his marriage and quick termination.
Now as more information is being released of Gibbs having to undergo alcohol rehabilitation, it appears this is one player South Africa cannot afford to lose anymore. Their one day team has also faced torture in the absence of players like Justin Kemp, Andrew Hall, Johan van der Wath, and Nicky Boje who are taking English county cricket and the ICL by storm. Gibbs has also faced his ups and down that began in 2000 with match fixing scandal with Hansie Cronje and persisted in recent times over his form that has oscillated between greatness and obscurity.
Brett Lee’s recent tussle with Ricky Ponting over the former’s inadequate use in bowling for Australia was also attributed to Lee losing his focus a bit after his marriage to Liz Kemp was shocking terminated. What allows marriages like the one between Glenn McGrath and is now late wife, Jane, to survive lengthy tours abroad, marriage and a fatal and in the end, futile battle against cancer is then something to be hailed as extraordinary.
It appears that players now either seek to be with their family in important moments such as the birth of their children or are caught paying a heavy price for forfeiting family life for national duty. The addition of their ‘glamourous’ lifestyle is almost getting synonymous with the footballers and while their income is perhaps not in the same league, the illusions of being married to a cricketers are only being unraveled post marriage.
Whether the repeated break down of players is due to their marital status or more due to their own inherent personalities that get exacerbated with family pressures, is perhaps best left to the psychologists. What can be concluded though that perhaps even the players, while beating the best in the business on field, are unable to roll their respective roles together off the field successfully enough. Is cricket suffering more or their families? Hard to measure but the fans are surely disappointed to watch their stars appear like mere mortals with tragic common day personal problems. C’est la vie!
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