Former team mates support Cronje return

Some of Hansie Cronje's former South Africa team mates have voiced their support for the former captain's possible return to the game.

The United Cricket Board (UCB) banned Cronje from cricket at all levels under its auspices for his involvement in the match-fixing scandal that rocked cricket last year.

The former South Africa captain is due to fight the ban in the Pretoria High Court from September 26 to 28.

Cronje lawyer Les Sackstein said on Monday his client would not play first-class cricket again if the ban was overturned, but that he was interested in coaching and commentating.

Former Test fast bowler Fanie De Villiers told Reuters on Tuesday that he felt Cronje had been punished enough.

Asked whether he felt Cronje should be permitted to coach, De Villiers said, "Before you ask that question you've got to ask whether he's paid enough for what he's done -- I think he has. To lose your integrity is one thing, but to be cut out of society is something else.

"I think the price he's paid has been massive, and if the other guys who have been involved in this sort of thing could have seen what has happened to Hansie, they would never have done it."

Commentator Kepler Wessels, Cronje's predecessor as South Africa captain, said he would have no objection to a Cronje comeback.

"If you are coaching a side you've got a very close involvement with them and there's no real difference between coaching and playing," Wessels told Reuters.

"I wouldn't have any problem with him coaching or commentating, and I wouldn't have a problem in commentating with him."

Former South Africa wicketkeeper Dave Richardson, now a lawyer, was more cautious on Cronje returning to cricket.

"I don't think we should be trying to make a differentiation between coaching and playing because there really isn't one, certainly within terms of the ban," Richardson told Reuters.

"The differentiation we should be making is the level at which he does either (coaching or playing). I can't say where that level should be drawn - that is up to the UCB."

One of South Africa's leading authorities on school sport says Cronje would be welcome to coach in the country's schools if his life ban was overturned.

"Hansie would undoubtedly have a lot to offer - he has so much experience that it would a shame not to use it," Amien Dharsey, deputy president of the United School Sports Association of South Africa (USSASA) told Reuters on Tuesday.

"We are an official affiliate of the United Cricket Board (UCB) so of course we respect the ban that is in place, but should he be cleared then we would hope he could offer the children of the country the benefit of his skill and experience," Dharsey said.

"South Africa is a young democracy and we have come through a terrible period of our history. It is very unfortunate what Hansie did and what happened to him, but are we going to crucify him for it? If he is cleared then he deserves a second chance."

"If I took Cronje to coach in (former townships) Khayelitsha and Mitchell's Plain then he would be still be recognised as a great cricketer, a man they used to idolise -- not as a match fixer," Dharsey said.

He added that any objections would be most likely to come from parents.

"If the life ban was lifted, and he coached in schools, then a parent might object. We would have to look at that very carefully and objectively. But the parent would be free to withdraw their child if they were not happy. Equally parents would be free to hire him privately as a coach outside our jurisdiction," Dharsey said.

Mail Cricket Editor