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Cronje controversy gives Indian media indigestion

The Indian media Saturday lamented the degeneration of cricket, the traditional gentleman's game, following match-fixing allegations against South African skipper Hansie Cronje and three teammates.

Indian newspapers unanimously deplored the repeated scandals dogging cricket in the recent past with headlines mourning the current state of the game.

"Money a great leveller indeed," the Indian Express screamed even as the Times of India said: "The game goes for a sixer."

The Asian Age claimed Cronje was "caught at cash point."

New Delhi police on Friday said charges of a criminal conspiracy had been registered against Cronje and his teammates Herschelle Gibbs, Nicky Boje and Pieter Strydom for fixing matches during last month's one-day series here.

Similar charges have been filed against two Indians and one of them, Delhi-based businessman Rajesh Kalra, has been arrested.

But Cronje vehemently denied the Indian charges of match fixing, saying they were "without substance." "I am stunned," he said in a statement distributed by the United Cricket Board of South Africa (UCBSA). "The allegations are completely without substance. I have been privileged to play for South Africa since 1992 and I want to ensure every South African that I have made a 100 percent effort to win every match that I have played."

The Indian Express reflected the overwhelming mood in India, saying: "Now there is evidence. Evidence that a few players have succumbed to the lure of big money and don't think twice about selling their wares."

The Pioneer echoed the sentiment, saying: "It isn't cricket after all," and pointing out that the scandal had "temporarily put the gentleman's game on the backfoot."

Former Indian test cricketer Manoj Prabhakar, who had earlier made allegations about corruption in cricket, said in remarks published Saturday that he had been vindicated.

Four years ago, the former all-rounder had accused an unnamed team-mate of offering him 25,000 dollars to play badly in a one-day match in Sri Lanka. "Frankly speaking, money has become the name of the game these days," Prabhakar told the Hindustan Times. "Nobody is playing for the country anymore.

"Tell me, where are those people who blamed me when I raised these issues of betting and match-fixing? Then they were after me. I still maintain that such things have been going on in cricket for a long time."

The Indian charges relate to the five one-day international series South Africa played here between March 9 and 19. India won the series 3-2.

Indian police said they had recordings of a telephone conversation between Cronje and bookie Sanjiv Chawla that backed up their allegations.

"From the conversation between Sanjiv Chawla and Cronje, it emerges the one-day international matches between India and South Africa played recently in India ... were fixed for exchange and or consideration of money," a police official said.

"Those involved in such fixing have illegally amassed huge sums of money both in Indian and foreign currencies and made huge gains by wrongful means and by clearly deceiving the cricket fans and general public," he added.