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Williams also admits accepting offer; Gibbs axed

South Africa fast bowler Henry Williams on Friday told the Judge Edwin King commission inquiring into match-fixing that he also had agreed to take money for playing below his potential in a one-day match against India during the tour of the country in March.

The Boland seamer told the Cape Town hearing that former South Africa captain Hansie Cronje had told him of a bookmaker's offer of 15,000 dollars for turning out "a poor display" during the match.

"If Hansie Cronje could do it, then I could do it too and, because Herschelle agreed, I also agreed," Williams told the inquiry, on the third day of its sitting.

Williams, however, injured himself before the one-day international in question, did not play, and was never paid.

Yesterday, opening batsman Herschelle Gibbs admitted that he accepted a bribe offer of $15,000 from Cronje to lose his wicket for under 20 runs and then later lied about the deal.

Following his revelations, the United Cricket Board of South Africa decided not to select him for the tour of Sri Lanka next month.

After an emergency meeting on Friday morning, the UCBSA, in a statement, announced that the 26-year-old Gibbs will not be selected for the Sri Lanka tour and would face a disciplinary hearing. The statement, however, said that he would continue to receive his full salary in the interim.

UCBSA managing director Ali Bacher said an inquiry would be set up as soon as possible.

"We were put in the picture by Gibbs' s lawyers at a special meeting in Johannesburg last Friday," Bacher told reporters.

"The fact that he has admitted to having taken a bribe is basically the commission's affair, but the fact that he lied to me, basically his boss, on no less than five occasions, is a different matter."

Agencies