Gibbs was born at Buglawton, Cheshire, and attended Hanley High School before going up to University College, Oxford.
[1] He represented Staffordshire in Minor Counties cricket from the age of 16, making his debut against Cheshire in 1961.
Gibbs made his debut for Derbyshire in 1966 after the end of the university cricket season.
[3] Gibbs was a right-handed opening batsman, "a fluent, well-organised player",[4] who mostly partnered David Smith or Ian Hall during his time with Derbyshire.
He has written a dozen plays for BBC radio, including "Supersaver" (1981, with Richard Briers) which won the Prix Futura at the Berlin Festival and "Taking us up to Lunch" (1991), which was set in the Test Match Special commentary box.