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Spectre of fixing haunts South African cricket
- Updated: August 8, 2016
A ghost flitted through South African cricket on Monday. The ghost of corruption, of something that is just not cricket. The ghost of match-fixing.
None of the five cricketers sanctioned by CSA in 2016 have anywhere near the profile of Hansie Cronje. Gulam Bodi was a spent force by the time he was linked to match-fixing. The same could be said for Thami Tsolekile, who is the only other international in the group, and Ethy Mbhalati, who recently had a benefit year at the end of a career that spanned more than a decade. Pumelela Matshikwe and Jean Symes were not well known but they were promising talents, perhaps with unfulfilled potential. But none were household names.
They have also not been dealt the punishment Cronje was. He was banned for life; these players will be kept out of the game for between seven and 20 years, perhaps because their wrongdoing was not deemed as great. Cronje admitted to accepting money to influence the outcome of international matches, the five here have admitted to varying roles in attempting to manipulate domestic cricket. CSA has maintained it have no evidence a fix was actually carried out.
In the end, that may not actually matter. The thought was there, some of the steps were taken and while South African cricket may not miss this quintet it will feel the effects of their actions in the following ways.
Uncertainty The first warnings of match-fixing came out 10 months ago, in November 2015 but still the investigation has not reached its conclusion. That leaves the matter open to more speculation, fans unsure of whether their game is clean and players on tenterhooks. Judge Bernard Ngoepe, the chairman of CSA’s Anti-Corruption Unit, explained the reasons for the slow pace of proceedings but gave no indication how much longer it would remain pending.
“Some people might have thought the process was too slow,” he said. “If it has to be slow, so be it. We take our work seriously and it must be remembered that we need to have something concrete to trigger an investigation.
“We do not engage in witch hunts. Whatever we do, we do it with a purpose. bearing in mind, we are …
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