Daryl Cullinan reveals the condition of South African cricket after the match-fixing saga

Former South African batsman Daryl Cullinan reveals that he was disappointed about the match-fixing scandal which shook the cricketing world in 2000. Hanse Cronje, around whom the whole saga revolved, was the captain of the ‘Proteas’ then.

Along with him, players like Nicky Boje, Herschelle Gibbs, and Pieter Strydom were also involved. There have been many match-fixing issues after it, but that is still the most prominent case to have hit the world of Cricket.

Hansie Cronje was banned from playing or coaching Cricket for the rest of his life, thus ending his promising international career, he unfortunately died two years later in a plane crash. Cullinan played a pivotal role in the South African batting line-up during Cronje’s reign.

As quoted from ESPN Cricinfo, the right-handed batsman feels that the incident was a big blow for South Africa as they were starting to grow as a powerhouse in the Cricket World after they gained full members’ status in 1991.

Cullinan admitted that he was quite close to Hansie Cronje and his family, and was very disappointed with the way things were handled. He said, “That put us back many, many years, from the leadership point of view. I can only speak for myself but it left us very disappointed. We didn't expect that from a man of his stature and leadership. I have a lot of respect for the man [Cronje].”

“I know his family, I knew his brother better than I knew him. His father did more for cricket, for people in the country than anybody I know. So I never condemned the man, and you couldn't side with him in terms of what he did, but how it was handled, the way we were put out to slaughter, the way that we were now considered guilty and had to prove our innocence.”

Daryl Cullinan has a very impressive international record, especially in the longer version, having played 70 Test matches for the ‘Proteas’ and scoring 4554 runs at an average of 44.21.

His 275 not out against New Zealand at the Eden Park in Auckland is the most memorable innings by him.

Speaking about the problems faced by the players following the scandal, he confessed that they were treated like traitors to the ‘Rainbow Nation’. “I'm not for a moment saying that we should have kept it quiet. I was part of that team meeting so I know exactly what we talked about, when and how it started and what followed” said the Protean.

He added by saying, “When he confessed, we were told to appear [before the King Commission]. We had to submit our bank statements, our phone records. It basically invaded our privacy.

And going back to that meeting, I was one of three guys who said we are not doing it, and Cronje had said look, we are all in or we are all out. A meeting was called but Woolmer wasn't there. Cronje had said, right, it's on the table. This is the amount; we are all in or all out.”