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Bits and pieces on the Cronje scandal

Roshan Paul

The cricket community held its breath…but had to expel it in a frustrated sigh when it was told that it would have to wait for a ruling from the Cape Town High Court on a petition filed by the Live Africa News Network to permit live television and radio coverage of Cronje's cross examination. Proceedings have been postponed by a day to await the verdict.

In the meantime, Independent Online, a South African web site has published the results of a survey, in which 85 per cent of those surveyed believe that Cronje should be forgiven. In addition, 91 per cent of them feel he should be allowed to play cricket again, but 56 per cent believe he is yet to tell the whole truth.

This is interesting because it adds a new element to the ongoing debate in India: should Azhar and Kapil and the others named be allowed to don Indian colours again?

If people feel that Cronje, a self-confessed dabbler in match-fixing, should be allowed to represent his country, then why not Azhar and Kapil, given that they strenuously deny any involvement? One is not saying they should, but it does provide some food for thought.

The presence of two Scotland Yard detectives at the King Commission hearings too has initiated much speculation. It is believed that they would like to question Cronje as part of their own investigations into match-fixing in England, not just in cricket, but also in football. At present, it seems that they are concentrating on nabbing bookmakers and are very interested in Cronje's mention of "Sanjay", who is apparently based in London.

However, they are also considering broadening the scope of their investigations subsequent to Ali Bacher's claims that Pakistan's losses against India and Bangladesh in last year's World Cup, held in England, were fixed. Detective Steve Gwilliam told the London Sunday Times, "If this thing gets too big, we will be morally obliged to widen it out."

When Cronje eventually gets to the stand, he will have to be very careful for the Delhi police have provided more information that indicates that Cronje has not told the whole truth and is more involved with bookmakers than he has let on. The King Commission is keen to get this information, in the form of tapes, but the Delhi police say it cannot submit the tapes to anyone except an Indian court.

According to the Electronic Telegraph, Delhi police have also confirmed that their tapes hold no evidence of the involvement of any Indian players in match-fixing.

Oh, really?

Maybe, one is being too naive, but in the interests of cleaning up the game, perhaps both sides could exchange whatever information they have on each others' players. This would certainly expedite things and would enable us all to get on with the game a lot sooner.

As another day draws to a close, the cricket community begins to hold its collective breath again. Barring any further delays, tomorrow could be the biggest day since the Delhi police first set the cat among the pigeons.

The Betting Scandal: The full story