The end of the innocence

April 12 | April 10

2000
The beginning of the end for Hansie Cronje, who quit today after it was revealed that he was at the heart of a match-fixing scandal that continues to haunt the game even now. In early April reports had emerged from India that he was involved, largely as a result of a taped phone conversation. He denied it, and such was his reputation that he was almost universally believed - Ali Bacher, managing director of the UCBSA, spoke of Cronje's "unquestionable integrity and honesty". Then, four days after the accusation, Cronje confessed in a 3am phone call to Bacher that he had not been "entirely honest". He was immediately stripped of the captaincy, and in subsequent testimony to the government-appointed King Commission revealed, sometimes in tears, further details of his involvement with bookmakers in match-fixing. The cricket world listened agog as much as aghast. The game's reputation, it seemed, was at an all-time low. Cronje's life and career were in tatters.

1921
A West Indian captain is born. Jeffrey Stollmeyer, a classy opening batsman, played over a third of his 32 Tests as captain, a reign that incorporated the thrilling 2-2 draw with England in 1953-54. He made four Test hundreds, three of them overseas, including an outstanding 104 in defeat in Sydney in 1951-52. Stollmeyer was also a key component of the great 1950 team that won in England, and along with Allan Rae paved the way for the three Ws, with a series of solid opening partnerships. He died in a Florida hospital in 1989 after being shot in the head by armed robbers in his Trinidad home.

1856
Birth of a perfectionist. England middle-order batsman Arthur Shrewsbury was absolutely impeccable in defence, so much so that WG Grace would bellow "Give me Arthur" - later the title of a biography of Shrewsbury - when picking his Test team. Shrewsbury played 23 Tests and hit three centuries, the best of which was a magnificent 164 against Australia at Lord's in 1886, a match in which only two other batsmen, on either side, got more than 30. He shot himself in Gedling, Nottinghamshire, in 1903.

1955
Garry Sobers began a run of 85 consecutive appearances for West Indies in the second Test against Australia in Port-of-Spain. It was the first Trinidad Test to be played on a turf pitch; the idea was to give the bowlers a bit of a chance after the last Test on the ground produced 1528 runs for 24 wickets. This time there were only 1255 runs, 23 wickets and six centuries. Two of those came from Clyde Walcott, who later added two more in Jamaica to make it a record five in the series.

1982
The Sherminator was born today. While Ian Bell struggled against the Australians and their sledging, he managed to hold down a place in England's middle order, with centuries in Pakistan, New Zealand and South Africa. Though he was considered a class batsman from the time he was 16 - he was also the ICC's Emerging Player of the Year in 2006 - doubts remained about his abilty to convert fifties into match-turning hundreds. Bell proved his temperament on England's 2009-10 tour of South Africa, making 140 to help set up an innings victory in Durban and a gutsy five-hour 78 to save the match in Cape Town. The following winter he played crucial hands in England's Ashes whipping of Australia, averaging 65.80 over the five Tests.

1992
West Indies gave South Africa one hell of a beating, walloping them by 10 wickets in the second match in Trinidad. South Africa limped to 152, with only three men reaching double figures, and West Indies blazed past them in 25.5 overs, with Brian Lara unbeaten on 86. He was especially severe on left-arm spinner Omar Henry, who was caned for 41 off 4.5 overs. Henry later became the South African chairman of selectors.

1995
A bout of chicken pox for Moin Khan meant that Saeed Anwar led Pakistan for the first time in the Asia Cup match in Sharjah. Responsibility isn't always a good thing, though: Anwar made a distinctly out-of-character 4 off 23 balls, and Pakistan were beaten by five wickets when Sri Lanka reached 180 for 5 with 19 overs to spare. Sanath Jayasuriya showed Anwar how it should be done, flaying 30 off 15 balls.

Other birthdays
1854 Hugh Massie (Australia)
1957 Everton Mattis (West Indies)
1969 Gavin Briant (Zimbabwe)
1963 Billy Bowden