Confession claims its first victim in Gibbs

With the spotlight on the King Commission which has been set up to inquire into match-fixing, some startling disclosures have come out from Cape Town over the last two days. If Pat Symcox's admission of a bribe offer made to him by Hansie Cronje was sensational, the confessions of Pieter Strydom, Henry Williams, Derek Crookes and Herschelle Gibbs proved to be dramatic. In just three days more oil has been spilled than expected, making it a sticky wicket. With a long list of players and officials to be questioned, one is sure the Pandora's Box is bound to re-opened. Ironically, none of the players approached were paid as the plans went haywire. But on Friday, the UCBSA said it would not consider Gibbs for selection for the squad to tour Sri Lanka next month.

If Symcox dropped a bomb on Thursday, there have been a series of cluster bombs on Friday. Strydom, the South African fast bowler revealed that he too was offered money by Cronje before the first Test against India in Mumbai in February. Strydom said he refused the offer and added "Hansie said I could make 70,000 rand (10,000 dollars) if South Africa got less than 250 in the first innings (of the Test). I said no - but that if I had played 80 or 90 Tests I might consider it."

South African seamer Henry Williams confirmed that he had also accepted an offer of 15,000 dollars from Cronje to play badly in a one-day international in India, thereby corraborating the earlier statement made by Gibbs. Gibbs earlier had asked him (Williams) to say that the matter was just a joke. When asked why he lied to the Board earlier, Williams said that he was nervous and wanted to protect himself and Cronje.

Earlier, both offspinner Crookes and opener Gibbs made candid admissions before the enquiry commission. Their testimony surely must have been a blow not to South African cricket alone, but to the game in general. Gibbs, admitting to have agreed to accept the offer, said "I thought of my mother - as my parents were getting divorced, my father had a part-time job and I would have to look after my mother. So I said yes." Gibbs said he got carried away with his batting and went on to make 74 and was not paid.

If Gibbs was candid, Crookes' evidence was point blank. Crookes said he found the tactics of South African coach Graham Ford surprising. Crookes said "it was decided I would not open the bowling at any point during the rest of the series." In the last match, Ford said to him that he (Crookes) would be opening the bowling. Crookes said "I was surprised and "Hansie said we had nothing to lose, so let's try something different."

The UCBSA security chief Rory Steyn in his testimony said Cronje was in tears when he admitted that he took money. Steyn recalled the incident where Cronje told him how he was approached in January by a man called Hamid Cassim, who was always "around the South African team."

Daryll Cullinan said when he first heard of the offer from Cronje in 1996, he laughed at it. Cullinan said he opposed the move with Crookes and Hudson. Cullinan said he felt that "the incident had been a "stroke of genius" on the part of Cronje as a strategy to motivate a demoralised team at the end of a long and arduous tour."

Meanwhile, in India, Delhi police said the admission by both Cronje that the voice taped was his own and Roy McCaulay's statement corraborating the statement will strengthen their case and that it was an "extra-judicial confession". Alok Kumar, Dy. Commissioner probing the case said "the statement by Cronje's spiritual advisor Ray McCaulay that Cronje accepted that one of the voices on tapes recorded by the Delhi police was his, will be important evidence in the case." Kumar added "Voice samples constitute primary proof for the police investigating the case and we still want them."

Meanwhile, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said it has not yet decided on questioning Kapil Dev. Agency sources said "The CBI will decide whether to question Kapil Dev only after re-examining former cricket team manager Ajit Wadekar and cricketer-turnedcommentator Navjot Singh Sidhu next week." The sources said "Kapil Dev's examination would be possible if these two corraborated what they had told to Prabhakar on the video tapes." The sources said former Indian all rounder Ravi Shastri may be called by the CBI officials.