Cronje was not merely "spinning along" bookmaker

The King Commission of inquiry interim report into match-fixing, released in Johannesburg on Friday, rejects disgraced South African skipper Hansie Cronje's contention that he was merely "spinning along" an Indian bookmaker.

In the 66-page report on public hearings into the Cronje scandal that shocked cricket fans, retired judge Edwin King says it was apparent from Cronje's first meeting with bookmaker Sanjay Chawla early this year that the bookmaker wanted nothing less than the captain "to lose matches and to get other players to assist him in this".

"These facts ... are not readily reconcilable with the notion of Cronje spinning Sanjay along" as he had repeatedly protested, the report says.

Elsewhere the retired judge, appointed by the government to head an inquiry into corruption in South African cricket, notes his surprise that the first time Cronje was approached to fix a match, "he was prepared to and did entertain the suggestion." Cronje, who was fired from the team in April, admitted to the commission in often tearful testimony that he received thousands of dollars from gamblers and bookmakers on five separate occasions between 1996 and 2000.

However, to Cronje's credit, the report also notes that the evidence does not show that "anything untoward happened from about January 1997 to January 2000. During that period Cronje skippered South Africa in at least 25 Tests and many more one-day internationals.

The report contains little new but chronicles Cronje's evidence and actions, including the trail of lies he embarked on to cover his tracks once rumours emerged in India in April that the popular South African captain was involved in match-fixing.

It notes that he coerced opening batsman Herschelle Gibbs to lie to United Cricket Board boss Ali Bacher. Cronje telephoned Gibbs on April 16, telling him he could tell Bacher that Cronje approached him with a money offer but that no amount was discussed and Gibbs turned the offer down.

Gibbs in fact confessed to the commission in June that Cronje offered him 15,000 dollars if he made fewer than 20 runs in a one-day match in Nagpur, India in March.

Gibbs' testimony was not only damning for Cronje, who had at first claimed that he had never involved any of his teammates, but also cast a shadow over the 26-year-old's own promising career.

The UCB will on Monday announce his fate following a disciplinary hearing on August 19, which observers say could range from a year-long to a life-long ban.

In the same boat are Henry Williams and Pieter Strydom. Williams accepted a similar offer from Cronje to underperform while Strydom said he had had agreed to place a bet on Cronje's behalf on the outcome of a match between South Africa and England in January.

Cronje on Thursday pleaded with the cricket authorities not to punish Gibbs, who did not stick to the low-scoring deal but in fact went on to score 73 runs.

"In my opinion, Herschelle should be given another chance to play," Cronje said in his first television interview since the scandal broke.

Cronje also repeated his denials of match-fixing, saying he had "always given my best for South Africa." The King report makes no recommendation on his fate or that of his three teammates, but the investigation into their conduct is far from over.

The commission will resume its hearings on October 2 and King ends his report with the disclaimer that neither his interim report not any aspect of the inquiry is complete.

Mail Cricket Editor