London: Former England captain Michael Vaughan says he had felt "odd" after being given "a sniff" of a win in the dodgy 2000 Centurion Test against South Africa, the game the late Hansie Cronje fixed to change cricket forever. The match, which was almost ruined by bad weather, launched the infamous match-fixing scandal. "I never suspected match-fixing. Why would you as a young player? But the one thing that struck me as strange was why that South Africa team had decided to give us a sniff," Vaughan, then a rookie, wrote in the 'Daily Telegraph'.

Cronje's South Africa were at the top of their game in those days, walking shoulder to shoulder with the invincible Australians, something Vaughan took note of. "They were a hard bunch and very tough competitors. They were a bit like Australia in that regard, and yet they agreed to a deal. I remember thinking a few days later that it was odd," he said.