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Shorting teammates Cronje denies money influenced test against England
Posted: Friday June 23, 2000 10:05 PM
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) -- Disgraced South African cricket captain Hansie Cronje on Friday denied he had been motivated by money to force an outcome to a test match against England in January that was headed for a draw. Cronje suggested a deal to the England team during the rain-interrupted match whereby each side forfeited an inning and then South Africa made an early declaration, giving the English team a target to chase. England accepted and narrowly won the match. Last week, Cronje told a commission of inquiry probing corruption in South African cricket that Johannesburg gambler Marlon Aronstam had suggested he make the early declaration to revive the game. In return, Aronstam said Cronje would receive a gift and a donation to a charity of his choice. "I think I was trying to make a match of it and I wanted to win it," Cronje testified Friday. "I don't think the gift was the sole motivation for it. Before I walked on the field, I didn't even now what the gift was." Aronstam made three payments to Cronje totaling 50,000 rand (US$7,200) and gave him a leather jacket. The donation to the charity never materialized. Cronje said the result of the match could have gone the other way had South African bowler Paul Adams not been injured. After spending about 11 hours over three days on the witness stand, Cronje was excused but warned he would be recalled for further questioning. As he stood up, Cronje began crying and was rushed from the room. Next to take the stand was Aronstam, who also broke down in tears. A short adjournment was called. Earlier Friday, Cronje admitted he tried to shortchange his own teammates when he enticed them into agreeing to accept a bribe to fix a match. Cronje said he told a gambler called Sanjay that his teammates Herschelle Gibbs and Henry Williams wanted US$25,000 each to perform poorly in a match against India on March 19. Cronje had offered them US$15,000 each to play badly. A commission official then asked Cronje about the discrepancy between the amounts. Cronje responded: "Maybe I was trying to cut something for myself." Cronje received offers worth a total of US$140,000 for the team in relation to the match. The three players say they reneged on the deal, won the match and were never paid. "I am really sorry for what I did to Gibbs and Williams, because they haven't done anything wrong," Cronje said. Cronje said he did not know whether Sanjay was London bookmaker Sanjiv Chawla, who has been implicated in the scam by Indian police. Once one of the country's most popular sports heroes, Cronje sparked a national outcry when he admitted in April to having taken a single bribe from Sanjay for match information. Cronje's admission prompted the government to establish the commission under retired judge Edwin King. Last Thursday, Cronje told the commission that he accepted five separate payments totaling about US$100,000 from gamblers and said that US$20,000 deposit into his bank account could also have been in exchange for match information. He has denied ever throwing a match. The scandal broke after Indian police taped conversations Cronje had during the India tour earlier this year with Sanjay and Johannesburg businessman Hamid Cassiem. Cronje claims he repeatedly lied to Sanjay about trying to influence matches. At the start of the third day of his cross-questioning, King reminded Cronje that he had to give full disclosure of his involvement in illicit schemes if he is to qualify for amnesty from criminal prosecution.
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