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Too many one-day games cause of match-fixing, says Woolmer

I have always maintained that in one-day cricket there was not much to choose between Australia and South Africa, and I will maintain to this day that we were the better side during the 1999 World Cup. It was not ours to be and destiny saw it go the side of the decade if not the team of the century.

As I did not partake in the previous era's of cricket so I am not in a position to judge. In spite of crippling external focus (Hansie Cronje's scandal) South Africa, with a young side, were able to beat the all-conquering Australians by two games to one. Shaun Pollock, who took over the reins, has proved to be what I knew already -- that he is a genuine match winner. I had recently labelled him as a bit too fiery to take over the national side; all that proves is that no person is the fountain of all knowledge and that we are wrong on occasions. Well done Shaun Pollock and the rest of the team!

I am particularly proud of their achievements, not because I take any responsibility but as someone who has seen the development of their play from the under-24 tour to Sri Lanka in 1995. Shaun Pollock, Lance Klusener, Jacques Kallis, Nicky Boje, Roger Telemachus were just a few of the names that went on that tour. The old men of the team -- Gary Kirsten and Jonty Rhodes -- provided the necessary experience.

The really big plus has been the emergence of Makhaya Ntini as a strike bowling force. The disruption too would have forced the team together and there is nothing more dangerous than a team thrust together like this. The demise of Hansie Cronje is, or seems, to be never ending, and there are a lot of prophets of doom suggesting that there is more to come. Fixing the outcome of a game is so heinous that it does not bear contemplation. Giving the state of pitch and weather is quite frankly an irrelevant detail. Such are the vagaries of cricket, and history will outline those better than I can -- that strange things happen during a cricket match. This has always been the appeal of the game. No wonder the betting men, the bookies etc, revelled in the variety of the game.

Many theories now abound on why betting and match-fixing for players can be seen as the norm. Too much cricket, too many one-day games; many of them meaningless! Take for example 1996, the Mohinder Armanath one-day international. To put the record straight we (South Africa) asked Dr Bacher to ask Mr Dalmiya to take away first class status for the last game of the tour. Most sides prefer to return home immediately after the Test series finishes, but no, we had to stay and play this one-off totally meaningless one-day game! Beneficiaries very rarely get a one-day international granted as part of their benefit year; in fact it is unheard of! Yet, here, we were forced to play this game. Donald and Rhodes had gone home injured. I had fallen victim to a flu virus and was in no shape; in turn I had passed the virus on to six of the team who were in various stages of the virus. Fanie De Villiers played with a temperature approaching 103 and the side was decimated.

Then a bookie comes and offers the team $250,000.00 to throw the game. It would have been the easiest thing to do because we had virtually no chance any way. The only reason that the team had three meetings would, I am sure, have been because of the state of the game. The only time I heard of the offer was once and I can honestly say that I was shocked and hoped the team would have nothing to do with it.

In the end, we lost the game comfortably and tempers were frayed, and the players were not happy people. It also happened to be Hansie Cronje's 50th or 100th one-day international (my memory escapes me). He was very hurt and upset about it and very cross with Robbie Muzzell (the team manager) for not fighting our cause more strongly. On top of that, Azharuddin was given out caught off his thigh pad and the big screen showed it clearly and the crowd starting pelting the boundary fielders with water bottles! This caused a stoppage and the South African team walking off. The game nearly finished there and then!

It is now abundantly clear that the gentlemen running cricket have a long look at itineraries, listen to their players and stop trying to kill the goose that laid the golden egg.

(Gameplan)

The Betting Scandal: The full story

Bob Woolmer