5 biggest controversies in South African cricket

#2 Hansie Cronje and his ‘unfortunate love of money’

Hansie Cronje at the King Commission hearings

He was South Africa’s most iconic cricketer since their readmission into international cricket in 1991 and Hansie Cronje went on to become the team’s talismanic leader before it all came crashing down in the summer of 2000.

A phone surveillance ordered by Delhi Police on an unrelated matter happened to tap into a conversation between Cronje and a bookie, during South Africa’s tour of India back in 2000. It took South African cricket several years to recover from the controversy that then unfolded.

From then on, it erupted into one of the biggest scandals to have not only hit South African cricket but international cricket at large. Cronje initially denied any wrongdoing but later on admitted to taking bribes for passing on team news and also for influencing games, from a bookie named ‘John’ or MK Gupta. There was widespread disbelief as the former South African captain had been regarded as one of the game’s leading ambassadors.

However, at the King Commission inquiry in South Africa, the scale of his corruption was revealed. He had been doing it ever since he became the captain in 1995. The most telling statement from him during the course of the interrogations was this, "I had a great passion for the game, my team-mates and my country but the problem is the unfortunate love I have for money. I do like money. I'm not going to try to get away from that."