HOW MATCH FIXING DRAMA UNFOLDED - PART 1

April 13

Australian match referee Barry Jarman says he does not believe the controversial fifth Test between South Africa and England in January was fixed. It was for the first time in Test history, spanning 123 years and 1483 matches, that even a single innings had been forefeited, but Jarman told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio that there had been nothing to suggest any malpractice.

South Africans vote overwhelmingly in a newspaper poll to allow Hansie Cronje to play again as details of the bribery scandal that led to his downfall begin to emerge. In a poll published in The Star, 94 percent of the 7220 respondents vote to allow Cronje to play for South Africa again against six percent who say `no'.

The Star names a mysterious South African go between as Hamid `Banjo' Cassim, a Johannesburg businessman and friend of Cronje with links to Indian cricketers Mohd Azharuddin and Sachin Tendulkar. The Star says that Cassim is the linkman between Cronje and the London based Indian businessman Sanjiv Chawla.

South African Foreign Ministry spokesman Ronnie Mameopa says that if the Indian government request extradition, president Thabo Mbeki would ask Justice Minister Penuell Maduna to establish a magisterial inquiry to determine whether the charges are ``of an extraditable nature''. South Africa and India have no extradition treaty.

Mbeki, currently attending a G-77 summit in Havana, says South Africa should not leave any stone unturned in a judicial commission inquiry being set up. Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad tells reporters after a cabinet meeting that the government would co-operate fully with Indian authorities.

The Beeld newspaper reports that Cronje had received 8200 dollars, which it says Cronje's brother Hans had counted at Bacher's request. Bacher had earlier told journalists on April 11 that Cronje had received somewhere between 10,000 and 15,000 dollars.

A Reserve Bank official tells the Citizen newspaper that Cronje could be fined up to 250,000 rand (38000 dollars) for being in possession of foreign currency.

Hansie Cronje repeats his denial of any involvement in fixing or manipulating match results. ``I always played to win,'' he says reading a prepared statement to reporters in Bloemfontein, the capital of Free State province. He says speculation and criticism against other members of the South African team is wrong and unjustified. ``I know of no member of any side

Go To Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11