Corruption in cricket: The Hansie Cronje affair Rooting out the evil.

International cricket just cannot get rid of the mud of corruption that has tainted this great game. New revelations seemingly ooze out by the day, and no one knows how to really clean up the game. As South Africa gears itself to host the 2003 cricket World Cup. Tom Nevin looks back at one of the tackiest periods in the game's history.

Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the stands to watch a game of cricket returned to its for mer gentlemanly grace and glory, along comes another over of bouncers to cause further cracks in the international pitch. A flurry of new developments has emerged that make it clear that cricket still has a long road to travel before it can achieve the idyll the sport once inspired.

Significantly, the long-awaited report on world-wide cricket corruption raised more questions than it answered, and former SA cricket captain Hansie Cronje is sueing South Africa's United Cricket Board (UCB) to set aside the lifelong ban it imposed on him.

On the other hand, legal conundrums beset proceedings against Cronje. "What crime do we charge him for?" asked Shamilla Batohi, KwaZulu-Natal's head of crack anti-corruption unit, the Scorpions. Legal opinion is divided on whether or not Cronje's alleged match-fixing was a criminal offence or fell within the realm of moral indignation.

Crack former police chief Paul Condon headed an investigation into cricket corruption and, frustrated, had to report at the end of it that his probe had been met by a "conspiracy of silence".

Worse still, there's a small core of players out there who "continue to manipulate the results of matches or occurrences within matches for betting purposes".

And even more alarming, the mafia may well have a hand in it. Condon says it's too early to make conclusions about organised crime targeting the game, but "the proceeds of corruption in cricket are sufficiently large to attract the attention of organised crime". A murder and kidnapping in South Africa could have been contract jobs between rival corrupters.

Condon concludes that what makes cricketers more susceptible to graft is the fact that they're paid less than other international sportsmen, such as those who play golf, tennis, soccer and motorcar racing. They were also coerced into malpractice because of threats to them and their families.

The ex-super sleuth is also at pains to point our that corruption in cricket is nothing new. Serious dishonesty began in the 1970s in England, he reports, where teams allegedly conspired to fix matches.

The report is unsettling to South African cricket officials who are in the run-up to the 2003 Cricket World Cup to be staged at various centres countrywide, although UCB media relations officer Bronwyn Wilkinson welcomed the report as "good news for 2003 World Cup in SA".

A clean 2003 World Cup?

The recommendations made in the report will "ensure a clean World Cup", she said, adding that many recommendations in Condon's report have already been implemented in SA. "But it must be comprehensive and include ongoing training and awareness aimed at everyone involved in all levels of cricket."

Some of the recommendations Wilkinson refers to are contained in the Condon report and pinpoint three ways to protect players from fixers.

The first says players should have a greater say in the running of the game and a comprehensive training and awareness programme established for players and officials to warn them about problems.

The second wants controlled access for bookmakers to players and restricted use of mobile phones. Lastly, the report wants extra vigilance and security at certain one-day venues.

But why do cricketers do it? Money, mainly - they're targeted because they're paid less than other major sport players. For example, during the last World Cup in England, players received a low, single figure percentage from the proceeds. Also, cricketers have relatively short and uncertain playing careers, often without contracts, and some seek to supplement their income through corrupt practices. And, it's just too easy.

Ways of gambling on cricket are many and varied. Bets are placed on the outcome of the toss, the end from which the fielding captain will elect to bowl, a set number of wides or no-balls in a designated over, players being placed in unfamiliar fielding positions, individual batsmen scoring fewer runs than their opposite numbers who batted first, batsmen being out at a specific point in their innings, the total number of runs at which a batting captain will declare, the timing of a declaration, or the total runs scored in an innings.

A bet can be laid on the outcome of virtually any aspect of the game. And that's what makes it so easy for players to fix a result, especially in the one-day matches.

Cronje given the finger

Hansie Cronje, erstwhile South Africa's golden boy and foremost in opening the whole can of worms is dead in the eyes of organised cricket - but he refuses to lie down. It was Cronje's admission that he took money from bookies for providing information on matches in India and South Africa that started the world-wide probe. He believes he's been punished enough and whether or not that holds any legal water will be tested in the South African High Court in Pretoria on 26-28 September this year.

Cronje may well feel aggrieved for being one of the few given the high finger. The list of alleged offenders of cricket's morality reads like a Who's Who of contemporary cricket. 1998: Australians Shayne Warne and Mark Waugh are secretly fined by the Aussie cricket board for giving pitch and weather information to bookies during their tour of Sri Lanka in 1994.

1999: Warne says Pakistani international Salim Malik offered him money in 1994-5 to bowl poorly to ensure a drawn match.

2000: A judicial inquiry in Lahore hears claims that Pakistani test players Salim Malik, Ijaz Ahmed and Wasim Akram helped fix matches.

2000: Indian star Kapil Dev threatens to sue former India all-rounder Manoj Prabhakar who accused him of match-fixing.

2000: South Africans Herschelle Gibbs and Henry Williams plead guilty before a UCB hearing for accepting money from Cronje. Cronje is banned for life.

An affidavit signed by a South African businessman alleges that ex-West Indies captain, Brian Lara received cash in a one-day fixture in SA - India bans Mohammad Azharuddin and Ajay Sharma for life. Ajay jadeja and Manoj Prabhakar are banned for five years.

2001: The Condon report slams cricket's 'conspiracy of silence'. So now we know a lot about what's wrong with cricket. What we don't really know is how to fix it. Perhaps some good will come from giving players a greater say in the running of the game and by controlling bookmaker and mobile phone access to matches. But that seems to be little defence against an overwhelming onslaught of corruption possibilities. Money is what makes the world, including cricket, go round.

Condon said his report will make disturbing reading for all those who love and follow the game of cricket. "It describes at least 20 years of corruption, linked to betting on international cricket matches. Corrupt practices and deliberate under-performance have permeated all aspects of the game.

* On a different and much brighter note, Zimbabwean schoolboy, Hamilton Masakadza became the youngest player to score a century on his test debut. Masakadza scored an unbeaten 115 against the West Indies last July at the age of l7 years and 354 days.

The previous youngest century-maker on his test debut was Salim Malik of Pakistan who scored 100 not out against Sri Lanka at the age of 18 years and 328 days. The youngest player to score a test century is Mushtaq Mohamed of Pakistan who made 101 against India at the age of 17 years and 82 days.

Turns HOSTS 14m MEDITERRANEAN GAMES

Tunisia's new $225m 60,000 seater, Olympic stadium is hosting the 14th Mediterranean Games, also known as the Mediterranean Olympics, this month (September). A total of 3,500 athletes from 23 countries will be competing in athletics and 22 other sports disciplines.

Tunis becomes the first city, in the 50- year-old history of the event to host the Games twice. The first time was in 1967. The complex is located at Rades, some Okms from Tunis.

Along with the roofed stadium, a 3,000-seat Olympic swimming pool, a football stadium and an Olympic village for contestants has been developed. Tunisia's new facilities will not only host the Mediterranean Games, they are part of the country's bid for the honour and huge financial advantage of hosting the 2010 Football World Cup. The African Nations Cup in 2004 will also be held there.

The Mediterranean Games will showcase the growing sporting skill of competitors from the Arab and African nations around the Mediterranean. As we go to press, squads have yet to be finalised, but many of the stars of the world's greatest football teams are likely to be competing for their home countries. The great Moroccan runners are sure to be there and, without doubt, the first Arab woman to play at Wimbledon this year, the Tunisian tennis star, Selima Sfar.

Indicating his country's commitment to excel in the sporting arena, Tunisia's Minister for Youth, Childhood and Sports, Abderrahim Zouari, says, "Sports, like education, is one of the best ways to prepare our young people."