Neal Collins cricket There are disturbing rumours coming from the Garden Route … of braais, rounds of golf and huge cheques, all being enjoyed in the spring sunshine by a certain Wessels Johannes Cronje.
Yes, Lord Hansie of Cronjegate is alive and well and thriving in Knysna, where he hobnobs with Ernie Els and his other rich neighbours in a luxury house on a lagoon-side golf course. How exactly was all this paid for? How many leather jackets hang in the closets? Who is paying the bills in the Cronje household since Captain Hansie lost his job? We can only guess.
India’s Sport Minister, Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, has been quoted as saying that Delhi police are making “frantic” efforts to extradite Cronje to India. But Cronje doesn’t appear to be too worried. As the countries have no extradition treaty, why should he? The point is this: post-Hansiegate Cronje is not suffering quite as much as expected; Dr Ali Bacher is talking about kiss-and-make-up not three months after Hansie’s kiss-and- not-tell confession to taking money from a bookmaker. Okay, he’s not playing much cricket. While his Proteas, now led by Shaun Pollock, have drawn a series in Sri Lanka and battled it out under a roof with World Cup holders Australia in Sydney, Hansie has been playing golf. Curiously, Cronje’s golfing partner is reported to be one Herschelle Gibbs. You might have expected Gibbs to find a more suitable playmate. Gibbs, though still paid under contract by the United Cricket Board, apparently lost thousands when he was dropped from the team for his involvement with Cronje – yet still he chooses to play golf with his former captain. While all around the world, players attempt to rehabilitate the game with ties at the Colonial stadium and two-day Tests at Headingley, Cronje sees no problem in earning money from exclusive interviews. He did a pre-series chat with Australia’s 60 Minutes and a marathon three-hour documentary for South Africa’s Supersport – all for undisclosed fees. And over in England, Max Clifford is attempting to put together a classic tabloid-and-book kiss-and-tell deal worth reams of rands to the boy from Bloemfontein. Only three weeks ago the poor lamb was seeing psychologists and claiming he could barely carry on living. The infamous Sunday tabloid News of the World in London last month claimed that Cronje had considered suicide. The News of the Screws, as we like to call it, is known for its chequebook journalism.
Cricket fans worldwide will find such tales hard to swallow. Cronje was granted immunity from prosecution in return for a full and frank confession to the much-hyped King commission. Instead we got obfuscation and vague half-truths. Cronje has, for a fee, given journalists more insight into his wrongdoings than he ever gave the commission. Even Ray McCauley, head of the Rhema Church and the man Cronje chose to accept his original confession, admits: “I am not saying Hansie has hidden anything from the commission, but I do not know if he was asked everything.” Judge Edwin King has submitted his report to the South African government – but will he push for prosecution (and a possible five-to-10-year sentence) on the basis that Cronje was “economical with the truth”? I suspect not. The nation wants an end to the embarrassment; there is no popularity in harrying Cronje further. With his playing career coming to an end, Cronje appears to be raking in as much money as any former player could have hoped for. Theres something rotten in the bustling resort of Knysna. And it smells fishy by the seaside. Bacher only adds to the stink when he is quoted in London’s Mail on Sunday as saying: “We should not simply cut Hansie off from society. He knows his cricket career is over but, sometime in the future, should he feel he can still make a contribution to the game, maybe in the form of helping and working with kids from disadvantaged backgrounds in our country, maybe we should consider that. “Human compassion should come into play. If he wants to give something back to the game from which he has taken so much, it would seem to be appropriate to consider allowing him to do so,” said Bacher. Personally I can’t go along with that. A generation of South African cricketers were denied international competition by the abomination of apartheid. Graeme Pollock, Barry Richards, Clive Rice, Eddie Barlow, Jimmy Cook, Vince van der Bijl and the rest had their careers cruelly wrecked. Yet Cronje, given the captaincy when many felt he was hardly up to it, has betrayed the game, the nation and that lost generation. Surely he should suffer a little more than a couple of months in the wilderness, giving interviews and playing golf? However, there are signs that not all will be as forgiving as Bacher. Delhi police representative KK Paul said this week: “We have now excellent evidence and a very strong case against Cronje.” But he complained: “Our probe is being delayed by investigations abroad.” Already Paul’s department has arrested three bookies in India after taping Cronje’s conversations. They intend to prosecute Cronje, his current golf partner Gibbs, Nicky Boje (hero of the Sri Lanka tour) and Pieter Strydom. Paul says Henry Williams “will also be part of the overseas investigations”.
And India’s sport minister says extradition negotiations will resume when a South African team of prosecutors visits India later this month. Justice could yet be done. But don’t hold your breath.
ENDS