The Transcript of the Hansie Cronje Interview - Part I

The first edition of the program "Hansie - The Fallen Idol" was telecast on M-Net television on Thursday night. The interview was conducted by Mike Haysman, a former Australian cricketer.

Mike Haysman: Hansie can you believe what’s happened to you?

Hansie: It’s very very hard sometimes you’ve got to pinch yourself to realize what the position is at the moment, from where we were on the 7th of April to where we are now and that is very hard to accept that, but I also believe that on the 11th of April in Durban I knew that there was going to be some consequences, I’ve had three months now to think about it, I think I realize then that there were going to be consequences.

Mike Haysman: They’re looking back, on holding the zone where is the one time you could have put everything to hold.

Hansie: I believe the first time I spoke to a bookmaker, I gave the wrong impression, and if I have given them the correct impression of saying you know, get out of my life, I don’t want to get involved, forget about me, things would have been a lot different, not only from his side staying out of my life but also from my side been strong enough not to accept the offer than to not even entertain those thoughts, in my mind so I believe that’s the one time I really could have put a halt to the whole thing.

Mike Haysman: But why didn't you?

Hansie: I don’t know, I’ve asked myself that question so many times over and over again, and it’s obviously been a mistake I’ve made and it’s a mistake I’ve paid the price for and basically lost my job and lost a lot of what I have worked for in my life, and it is a huge mistake that I have made , and I cannot find one answer that will give me an answer to that one question.

Mike Haysman: Also along the way you have hurt a lot of close people as well.

Hansie: Yea, for sure you know the list is just endless I mean you can mention and you can start with your wife and your family and your teammates and the cricket board and the country and that and you do feel bad about that , I mean at the end of the day , I’ve hurt a lot of people during this time and it was my mistake I mean I don’t want to blame anyone else at the end of the day it was my mistake.

Mike Haysman: I can imagine the last few months have been just about unbearable?

Hansie: It’s been tough, it’s been really tough not been part of the cricket team but I think what has been tough is the fact that your entire life has been put on hold, it’s also been a time of realizing just how important family members are, realizing how valuable a wife is and it is unbelievable how my friends have been, over the last 3 months I’ve had so many messages and phonecalls, and faxes of encouragement and support, and I’ve really appreciated every single one of them, their support is their friendship and my faith has been able to carry me through the last 3 months

Mike Haysman: No doubt your support group has been your family and they’ve been pretty tight around you and providing you with great assistance

Hansie: Yea throughout my career they’ve been great, you know you think of the countless times when you were battling and things were’nt going according to plan on the field, and often the first phone call is from family, you know just the encouraging word of support through the difficult times what was awesome was even at times when things were going great you wouldn't seem to hear from the family but when things were going badly and you weren't scoring runs, those would be the times that they would really stand by you, I think that was great from a family point of view , that during the dark times when they knew friends were going to be few, that’s the time when they opened and really supported you.

Mike Haysman: Lets talk about various members of your family , how tough has the last few months been for them?

Hansie: I think the one that’s really hurt the most is probably Bertha because she did nothing to actually get involved in this whole business and this whole episode, and she was sort of kind of looking forward to the time after cricket, away from the whole kind of cricket environment just the two of us on our own getting to know one another a little bit better and we are getting to know one another a lot we been learning so much of each other, spending a lot of time together but obviously it would have been great in different circumstances, but she’s been wonderful, throughout my career I’ve always felt that I maybe be the strong one and be the real pillar of strength, but she has been the real pillar of strength and a real support system over the last three months and she was absolutely brilliant during this time for me, from a family point of view it’s brought us all together you know it’s often said that family bond together during funerals and weddings and that, but the families been absolutely great, my brother Frans, my father my mother, my sister really stood by us, and other family members as well have really been great.

Mike Haysman: With regards to your immediate family Bertha and your Mom and Dad you obviously kept this whole story away from them for a number of years that must really have eaten away at you from time to time?

Hansie: Yes, I mean if you look back now you sort of have the advantage of hindsight and it’s easy now to say I should have confided in them a long time ago but it was not something I was proud of, and you know it’s easy now to look back and say I should have done this or I should have done that and that’s probably one of the single biggest mistakes I made was not to confide in them earlier, and that’s one of mistakes I made.

Mike Haysman: Of course it’s also been very difficult for the South African cricket public

Hansie: I think that I realize that I’ve hurt a lot of people, and I think that the public deserves to know that every time we walked out onto the field, we gave our best and the mistake I made was obviously abusing the position I was in, passing on information that was helpful for someone else and that was not right and that was a mistake that I made but I think the public should know everytime we walked onto the field we gave our best and to test our results reflected through going out the field in a true competition between two sides trying to gain dominance over the other side.

Mike Haysman: Just want to pick up on your point here Hansie you said that every time you took the field the team did their best, but at the King Commission it came out that you asked Herschelle to get out for less than 20, surely that is in direct contradiction to what you just said?

Hansie: I, on one occasion went to Herschelle and asked him to get less than 20 , and he got 73 of 53 balls and played superbly well, and that’s why it is of my opinion that Herschelle should be given another opportunity to play, surely if you told to get less than 20 and you get 73 of 53 balls then obviously you were not paying attention to what was said, you entertained the thought, you were tempted but you never followed through.

Mike Haysman: How tough was it for you crossing to Herschelle, at the King Commission?

Hansie: I think the toughest part for me was when Herschelle said that he obviously looked up to his Captain, and he felt if his Captain could do it, then so could he, and that to me was when it really struck home , a lot of times you can talk about something but on black and white, cold facts it looks very bad, and it struck home over the last three months exactly what I was up to and what I was doing, and the worst part for me was hearing Herschelle saying that he looked up to his Captain and if his Captain could do it so could he, that was the toughest part.

Mike Haysman: Did you not think over the last couple of years that you were doing something horribly wrong?

Hansie: There was times when I felt I was doing something wrong, yes sure , but I think I rationalized it and it seemed to be ok, because all I was really doing was passing on a snippet of information, to somebody that was willing to pay a fortune of money for it, and that at the end of the day I rationalized it that way, I was not captaining any different I was not batting any different I was not bowling any different, I was not asking anyone else in the team to do anything different, and at the end of the day when you go out the there and play between the white lines, you still give your best, and that is how I somehow rationalized it, and looking back I know it was a mistake and I have said it so many times, I realized I made a big mistake and if I could have it over again , I would do it so much differently.