Having snubbed him just a few weeks ago, Mike Procter and his Proteas selectors have been forced to call back Herschelle Gibbs.
Three weeks ago, Gibbs scored a majestic century for the Cobras in a 40-overs match against the Dolphins. Batting at No4 for the Cape Town team at Newlands, and chasing a Dolphins total of 243, Gibbs raced to an unbeaten 102 off 98 balls, reaching his hundred just in time — before the Cobras had reached their winning target.
He was especially harsh on poor Andrew Hall, hitting 36 off the luckless bloke in just five overs.
Gibbs hit a six over cover point, on one knee, off Quentin Friend, to reach his century and the winning target.
He has now been called up to the national team because of the injury to Jacques Kallis, which will keep the master batsman out of the one-day series against England.
Kallis is expected to be sidelined for a month with a rib injury.
It is not clear whether Gibbs will play at Newlands on Friday night as South Africa try to redeem themselves after being whipped by England at Centurion on Sunday by seven wickets.
Now 35 and with Gibbs 21 ODI centuries in 245 appearances, it’s also clear that Gibbs is indeed reaching the end of the road, but perhaps he can lift a listless batting performance that we saw at Centurion.

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