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'The South African players aren't talking'

The transcript of a telephone conversation between Faisal Shariff, rediff.com cricket correspondent, and Paul Martin, editor-in-chief, Sport Africa and Live Africa.

Listen to Paul Martin on Real Audio

Paul Martin: The South African Cricket authority, the United Cricket Board, has dismissed the charges. They say they have spoken to Hansie Cronje, the South African captain. Dr Ali Bacher, the chief executive of the United Cricket Board, said that Cronje dismissed the charges as rubbish. I have spoken to Hansie Cronje and he said it is absolutely rubbish and there is nothing at all in it. And then Bacher added, we the United Cricket Board are absolutely certain that none of our players has ever been party to this practice. He was, of course, referring to match-fixing.

It is indeed the first time that allegations of match fixing have been leveled against South Africans. There is one of course, in South Africa, the very first match fixing allegations that were made, by the then vice-captain of the Pakistan cricket team when the Pakistanis played against South Africa in the Mandela Trophy match in Cape Town. It was then alleged that the toss had been won and then there was a mix-up about who was to bat and who would bowl, or vice versa. And this led to the departure from the tour of South Africa and Zimbabwe of two key Pakistani players. And after that the other allegations of match fixing surfaced.

But what about the transcripts? The police say they have it on tape, they say…

Paul Martin: Ali Bacher has refused to comment any further on the actual details of the allegations. South African cricket authorities will issue a statement later today which of course we as journalists eagerly await. But the tight-lipped nature of the South African team is being maintained. Nobody -- not one member of the South African team -- has spoken to the press as we know about these allegations.

Of course, the tape recording will be a key part of the evidence and I am sure that the journalists in South Africa if not the cricket authorities are very anxious to get their hands on the tapes.

If the allegations are proved true, what do you think will happen then?

Paul Martin: If the allegations are proved true, it will be the biggest shock in South African sporting history. South Africans pride themselves on honesty in sport. They are very hard players of all sorts of sports, rugby, cricket and soccer. But there have been no allegations of match fixing in cricket and rugby ever before. Although there have been some instances of alleged match fixing in soccer before, but certainly not in these supposedly cleanest sports.

And if they are proved true, undoubtedly Hansie Cronje will be drummed out of any sporting involvement. At the moment he is seen as a big hero, he is seen as Mr Clean. In fact, South Africa is always seen to be head and shoulders above anyone else in the question of how they play their sport honestly, hard and to the rules. And if the opposite is proved true, it will be a traumatic discovery for the South African general public and the players will pay very severely.

A lawyer, Paul Martin worked for the BBC as foreign correspondent for four years from Cairo, and has also written for The Times, London, The Guardian, The Sunday Times and several other international newspapers on sport, the politics in sport, and foreign affairs. He has made several documentaries for BBC radio and television.