Okay, so crime may be on the rise and much else concerning law and order in the capitalmay be out of control. But make no mistake, busting cricket’s match-fixing racket isa huge, huge achievement. Over the last decade, this racket has survived the InternationalCricket Council’s periodic admonishings to players, two judicial inquiries (JusticeQayyum in Pakistan and Justice Chandrachud in India), and sundry attempts by cops invarious other cities in India and elsewhere to find the nexus between bookies and players.The Delhi Police can take a bow.

Nothing Doing
Not so the ICC, the game’s controlling body, which has chosen to ignore warningsthat something was drastically wrong in the game for just too long. I dare say that inthis whole murky business, the ICC is culpable too.

In the last decade, it has adopted a puerile posture of authority. What great purpose,for instance, does a match referee serve apart from enjoying a free holiday and undeservedclout? If players glare or bark cuss words at each other, he steps in pompously toadmonish or levy a fine, which could easily have been done by the umpires. Wrapped up intheir own self-importance, more serious misdemeanours have completely escaped theattention of the ICC bigwigs.

Instead of seriously investigating allegations made by players like Manoj Prabhakar andRashid Latif (which this magazine highlighted first, if I remember correctly) that somecricketers were on the take, the ICC has chosen the namby-pamby route and passed the buckon to individual cricket boards. When Shane Warne and Mark Waugh were fined by their Boardfor taking money from bookmakers in Sri Lanka in 1994, the ICC swept this report under therug and kept it from public knowledge for almost four years! For more than a decade,nobody in authority wanted to believe that something was rotten in the State of Cricket,as it were. Now, everybody wants the sport cleansed of cheats and shysters. Wonder if itis not too late already.

A Waxwork Model
I must confess to being devastated when this story broke. Cronje was a hero. A dashingplayer and a dynamic captain. He made things happen, as batsman and skipper, playedaggressive cricket, but without rancour. Commanding and imperious, he seemed a bornleader.

I first met Cronje on December 6, 1992, a fateful day in Indian history. Azhar’steam was playing the first one-dayer at Cape Town. It was a day-night match in front of apacked house. India batted first and ran up a decent score. During the break, news of thedemolition of the Babri Masjid came through. When the South Africans went out to bat, itseemed a totally different Indian team had taken the field. Azhar, perhaps India’sbest fielder ever, spilled three catches, two of them skiers, one of which came from thebat of South Africa’s brightest young cricketer, Hansie Cronje. The match reached asizzling climax, with Cronje hitting a huge six over mid-wicket to win the game in thelast over.After the match, Cronje met the media. He appeared shy and introverted."When I went out there, all I wanted to do was win the match for South Africa,"he said, eyes gleaming with pride. I later asked Dr Ali Bacher about Cronje."He’s our most valued youngster," said Bacher. "Right from school,he’s shown leadership qualities, and is going to be our next captain."

When we moved to Bloemfontein for a tour match, in Afrikaaner country, the adulationfor, and expectations from, Cronje were even greater. "Hansie has been a modelsportsman," said the local cricket manager. "He is a no-nonsense guy who playsfor cap and country. He is our pride."

When I met Cronje again, during the World Cup last year, he was not only a captain, butamong the few truly revered cricketers in the world. Nobody else could have got away usingan earphone linking him to his coach in the dressing room. He had stature, and hiscredentials seemed impeccable. After one of the games, I asked him whether he wasn’tdeliberately defying cricket conventions by these innovations. "Not really," hesaid, "cricket needs dynamism and constant improvement." I asked his coach BobWoolmer if Cronje wasn’t undermining his own status as captain by taking instructionsfrom the dressing room. "I only offer him options and possibilities," saidWoolmer. "Nobody makes Hansie’s decisions for him," cautioned Woolmer."He is a very strong and intense man."

In The Fall Mood
In hindsight, even a complex man, I would volunteer, Cronje has shown mood swings andflashes of irrational anger. Two years ago, he hammered a stump into the hotel room doorof an Australian umpire after South Africa had failed to win the Test. Earlier, during theTitan Cup in India, he had beaten up Avi Sule, South Africa’s local manager inMumbai, on some flimsy reason (he apologised to Sule during the 1999 World Cup, and theyhugged and made up).

Cronje has also not had a very easy time in the last eight or nine months. In fact hehas been under a great deal of duress. The disappointment of losing the World Cupsemi-final to Australia must still sear his heart. He has also fallen out with Dr Bacher,in many ways his mentor. Cronje resisted the mandatory inclusion of two coloured playersin the national team, which Bacher insisted on. It was a controversy that raged for manyweeks in South Africa. Following that, he was named captain for only two Tests againstEngland, and only after he threatened to resign was he given all five Tests.

It’s been quite a fall for this man.

And yes, the value of the Rand also fell dramatically in the past few months.