Johannesburg: South Africa opener Herschelle Gibbs hopes to join the group of world players who have scored centuries against every Test-playing nation during the tour of Sri Lanka that starts later this week.
Gibbs, who returns to the position after a bad year that saw him being dropped from the side at one stage, said he was very happy to regain his status as an opening batsman.
As the team prepared to leave for Sri Lanka on Tuesday, Gibbs told the African daily Beeld here: "I have been messed around a lot the past eighteen months, and it gave my self-confidence a knock.
"I played my best cricket as an opening batsman and I think it was a mistake to break up the combination of myself and (captain) Graeme (Smith). On the West Indies tour I thought it would be a temporary thing to help out at number four, but then it kept continuing and I was moved around all the time.
"I began doubting myself and that's why I asked to be left out of the side against (visitors) New Zealand."
Gibbs said he was looking forward to hitting a century in a Test in Sri Lanka, as this would allow him to join the ranks of India's Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid; former team mate Gary Kirsten; Australians Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting; Brian Lara of the West Indies and Marvan Atapattu of Sri Lanka as those who have scored a century against every Test-playing nation.
In recent seasons, Gibbs and former team mate Nicky Boje had opted out of playing in the subcontinent because they feared being arrested by Indian police who still want to question them in connection with their role in the 2000 match fixing saga involving deceased captain Hansie Cronje.
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