/ 15 April 2000

GET HANSIE OUT OF JAIL

FANS who have not abandoned disgraced former cricket captain Hansie Cronje can bowl him out of a New Delhi jail in a website game. ”We felt that we needed something to lift South African spirits after the shock admissions by Hansie on Tuesday and thought a game in which the public can help Hansie would be the best option,” said John Kuhn, spokesman for the website. Cronje loyalists can log onto www.gal.co.za and throw cricket balls at the wall of a jail cell, while a tinny version of ”I want to break free” by British rock band Queen blares out of the computer speakers. But if the player fails to hit the wall enough times in the allocated time, the wall stays up, Cronje stays in jail and South African Sports Minister Ncgonde Balfour pops onto the screen and starts crying ”Oh, Hansie, my captain, my captain.”