Ewie Cronje is doubtful whether the new development will deliver any results
Ewie Cronje is a distraught man after Delhi Police charged his son, the deceased former South African captain Hansie Cronje in the 2000 match fixing case.
Hansie Cronje sulks with Jonty Rhodes (right) after South Africa’s series defeat to England at Headingley, Leeds on August 10, 1998. PIC/Getty Images
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“They had the opportunity to charge (Hansie) then, but they could find nothing then. What will they find now?” Ewie Cronje told the Afrikaans daily Beeld on Tuesday.
Interestingly, no other South African cricketer who was suspected of fixing has been named in the chargesheet apart from Hansie, who died in a mysterious plane crash in 2002.
Ewie Cronje claimed it is good that the bookies who “caused it all” will now possibly be punished, but expressed doubt whether the new development will deliver any results.
During the inquiry, Hansie had told the King Commission established by the South African government in the wake of the scandal that he had accepted money from bookies for fixing a match in India, resulting in his life ban from cricket.
Ewie Cronje. PIC/AFP
But according to his father, Hansie was not as guilty as was made out to be at that time and he was also not the only one involved. Nicky Boje, whose name also cropped in the scandal along with teammate Herschelle Gibbs, told the daily that it was high time the bookies were charged.
According to PTI, Gibbs, who was suspended and fined after an investigation in South Africa together with teammate Henry Williams, also said that the Indian authorities should bring the bookies to book.
Bacher’s nod
Meanwhile, former CSA supremo Ali Bacher welcomed the Delhi Police’s move. “Cricket lovers around the world can take heart and comfort that bookmakers allegedly involved in this malpractice are facing criminal charges,” Bacher told the daily ‘The Citizen’.u00a0
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