Neil Manthorp
Whatever else may be said about the King inquiry, the notion that South Africa’s cricketers will somehow attempt, let alone be successful in masking the truth would appear to be absolute rubbish.
Not only are the national squad players prepared and willing to testify, they are, for the most part, looking forward to the process as a means of cleansing their spirits and purging themselves of doubts that have lingered to the point of infection. Tell lies? I don’t think so …
“We knew we would be required to testify when it [the commission] was announced. I know everybody is keen to do whatever they can to help; the sooner we can put this behind us the better. We need to start getting over it,” disgraced former captain Hansie Cronje’s successor, Shaun Pollock, said just hours before leaving on honeymoon on Monday.
Jacques Kallis, too, has obviously thought about the commission: “I have no problem at all with testifying. The way I see it, all you have to do is be honest and you’ll be fine. I’m clean and I think it’s in everyone’s interests to say that they are clean; it’s in Hansie’s interests, too, to get the whole thing cleared up quickly.”
Lies? “The moment you start lying, or not being totally honest, you are bound to get into trouble; you’ll get found out and whatever you are trying to cover up will only get worse,” Kallis said.
Asked whether some players might be tempted, or feel obliged, to cover for their former captain, Kallis was forthright: “No, I don’t believe that’s possible. The thought of testifying in court, with the eyes and ears of the world on you, will be enough to prevent that.”
“Once you put your hand on that Bible and take an oath I can’t imagine anyone not telling the truth – certainly amongst the players, anyway. We want it cleared up quickly and honestly because it’s hurt all of us, in a way.”
Pollock’s vice-captain, Mark Boucher, is another who has found the affair popping into his mind more often than he would like: “It’s an opportunity to get all the guys’ thoughts together and see what their views are. My feeling is that if something ‘funny’ was going on on the field then we would have known about it – we would have felt it. As far as I was concerned we all played our hearts out in India,” Boucher said.
“I never had a single doubt or suspicion at the time. The only time I started having doubts was after the allegations came out and then I started thinking ‘yeah, maybe that was a bit funny’. But it’s stupid imagining things to fit the rumours. The fact is, I never doubted that we were all trying our backsides off in every game, and that’s what I’ll believe until I hear different. I don’t want to start analysing every game, trying to see something strange because strange things happen all the time in cricket!”
“I’m completely happy to talk [to the commission]. I certainly don’t have anything to lie about and I don’t believe any of the guys have, it’s gone way too far for that. We used to joke about this kind of thing all the time when we were there [in India] because it’s all around you, but not now. No one has any doubts about how serious it is – we realise the implications.”
Jonty Rhodes, who ironically missed the
one-day leg of the 1996 tour of India through injury as well as the 1999 tour through paternity leave, said he was keen to help but doubted he would “be of much use”. Typically though, he had not been thinking of himself.
“My thoughts are for Hansie now, too. He’s had no kind of life these past weeks; he has admitted his mistakes and now he must receive his punishment. This will never leave him, it will always be there, but at least he can try to get on with his life. He needs to heal, and the healing can’t start until after this is over,” Rhodes said.
The same could be said of all of us.