Peter Robinson
Over the past few weeks South African cricket has been twisting and turning in mostly self-inflicted agony. But now we know the “Hansiegate” scandal not to be the product of bumbling Indian policemen or even, as was suggested at one stage, a devious Australian plot, what exactly is to be done next?
In the short term, there is clearly a life ban in the offing for Hansie Cronje. To a degree Cronje has pre-empted this by announcing he is to cut all his ties with the game. But neither the United Cricket Board (UCB) nor the International Cricket Council (ICC) can afford to simply sit back and take no further action against the disgraced former captain.
Rightly or wrongly, Cronje has accepted an offer of indemnity against criminal prosecution. This is conditional on full disclosure.
Assuming there are no further revelations insofar as he is concerned, he still has to be banned officially from cricket for life, a sentence that should carry no possibility of parole. This should not be seen as a vindictive course of action, but one designed to frighten the bejesus out of potential transgressors.
The ICC has to ensure that in the future players scurry past betting shops with their eyes averted. There will still be temptations placed before cricketers, particularly those who travel far from home, but Cronje’s fate should exist as a constant reminder of the dangers that can lie in accepting even the most innocuous of gifts. They have to learn that there is no such thing as a free stuk of biltong.
On South Africa’s league table of sinners, Cronje is clear at the top by a distance. Below him come Herschelle Gibbs and Henry Williams. As the sympathy vote has shifted away from Cronje, some of it has gone to Gibbs. It should not be necessary, but it has to be emphasised that Gibbs and Williams conspired with Cronje to throw a match. They failed but it is important to remember that neither offered much resistance before agreeing to take part.
They have dishonoured cricket and their country and while they are clearly less culpable than their former captain, examples have also to be made of them. Each deserves no less than a life ban, but in their cases the majority of their sentences could be suspended. They might have to look at two or three years out of the game at provincial and international level.
It has been rumoured that Gibbs is not particularly concerned about a ban. He would simply take up football again, the stories go. If this ever proves to be the case, then we shall know exactly what kind of man he is.
It is quite clear, with the benefit of the Indian police investigation and now the King commission, that the UCB, and Ali Bacher in particular, placed too much trust in Cronje and allowed him far too much power. This cannot be allowed to happen again.
The ICC is to appoint an international corruption investigator soon. No doubt his first trips will be to Pakistan and South Africa where judicial inquiries have been or are being held. His presence may serve to persuade the cynics that this time the ICC is serious about match-fixing. And perhaps when the ICC members have stopped hopping about in self-righteous indignation at Bacher’s sweeping accusations, they might reflect that he has done no more than place all cricket’s doubts, fears and rumours squarely on the agenda.
Peter Robinson is editor of Cricinfo South Africa