Twenty years on, cricket still reeling from Hansie Cronje scandal

It may be two decades since Hansie Cronje corruption scandal rocked cricket, but even w ripples are still being felt.

This month marks 20th anniversary of Cronje being stripped of South Africa captaincy following an extraordinary sequence of events earlier in 2000.

In January, come last day of a 'dead' Test against England (South Africa had already won series) a draw seemed inevitable after rain had washed out three days' play.

Yet Cronje contrived a positive result by getting England captain Nasser Hussain to agree that both sides would forfeit an innings.

England were left with a target of 249 for victory after Cronje declared and eventually won by two wickets.

Traditionalists were aghast at interference with 'proper' course of a Test, yet few were prepared for what was to come.

In April, Cronje's im as a religious sportsman -- he wore a bracelet inscribed with words 'What Would Jesus Do?' -- was shattered for all time.

An AFP report, later confirmed by New Delhi police, said force had phone recordings of Cronje and an Indian bookmaker discussing predetermined Proteas' performances during ir tour of India previous month.

Such was Cronje's standing at home and abroad, initial reaction was one of "shock and disbelief" according to one of South Africa's leading cricket writers.

It was a sentiment shared by Dr Ali Bacher, managing director of United Cricket Board, forerunner of today's Cricket South Africa.

"When AFP broke story before official press conference by Delhi police, I remember office receiving a call from Dr Bacher blasting ncy for ruining reputation of one of South Africa's most iconic personalities," recalled Kuldip Lal, Delhi-based cricket reporter behind scoop.

"He threatened to sue us. I thought to myself that if story is incorrect, a few of us may need to look for ar job."

But Cronje's partial confession a few days later led to a "feeling of relief" in AFP's Delhi bureau, with Lal adding: "To his credit, Dr Bacher called office to apologise for his earlier outburst."

Cronje later confessed to several allegations at South African government-appointed King Commission, including attempts to bribe Herschelle Gibbs and Henry Williams to underperform in a one-day international against India.

He also admitted to receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars from bookmakers to prearrange certain conditions -- cricket's complexity means gambling coups are possible without 'fixing' result -- with his Centurion effort netting him some 6,000 and a lear jacket.

Cronje, who insisted he'd never thrown a game, was later given a life ban from cricket yet his reputation remained high with both his former team-mates and South African public alike.

For example batsman Daryll Cullinan, testified Cronje, who died in a 2002 plane crash, had offered team 250,000 to throw a match before adding he still thought of him "as a great captain and a great leader".

Meanwhile separate national hearings and investigations led to life bans for Pakistan's Saleem Malik and India's Mohammad Azharuddin.

Yet ir suspensions were among several punishments subsequently overturned, although for Malik and Azharuddin initial sanctions effectively ended careers of two world-class batsmen.

International Cricket Council responded by creating a new anti-corruption unit led by Paul Condon, former head of London's Metropolitan Police.

But it was desperately under-staffed and 10 years ago it was Britain's w defunct News of World tabloid that exposed willingness of Pakistan captain Salman Butt and bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir to eng in spot-fixing.

Since n a beefed-up ACU, respected for its work in educating players about dangers of corruption, has had a greater impact, with its investigations leading to New Zealand batsman Lou Vincent receiving a life ban for match-fixing in 2014.

But rise of Twenty20 franchise leagues and development of sport beyond top level men's cricket have created new targets for fixers.

As has happened in tennis, y can w turn ir attention to less high-profile areas of game, where financial rewards for players are far less and temptation to cheat potentially all greater.

One constant though is that betting on cricket in India, sport's biggest market, is illegal, meaning re is formal regulation, even though gambling on horseracing is t.

Im credit: AP