Cronje's lawyer gives clean chit to Indian players

The proceedings of the King Commission have been eventful in many ways. The high profile managing director of the UCBSA Ali Bacher and former South African captain Hansie Cronje kept contradicting their stand during the course of their testimony and even later. In India though, both the players and officials maintained their stand of denying their involvement or knowledge about match-fixing. The ICC meeting at Paris seems to be a stormy affair as the issue of match-fixing is likely to be taken up in the coming days.

The ICC has shifted the venue of the meeting from London to Paris with the main focus on how to cleanse the game which is in a rut. England and Wales Board (ECB) chairman Lord MacLaurin said "We must deal with this in a strong way. The game has to remain bigger than any individual. This scandal has got worse and worse. The ICC meeting has to be strong and root this out. I think there is more to come, who knows what is going to come out?" The ICC meeting in its agenda will hear the code of conduct report, a complaint filed by India against Bacher over alleged match fixing allegations and the progress of the inquiry commission on Pakistan and South Africa apart from other routine matters.

Meanwhile, a report in a South African newspaper has put Cronje in a fresh crisis. The former captain could end up paying a bill of over $41,000 from the South African revenue department as outstanding taxes and penalties. The newspaper said the immunity from criminal prosecution offered to Cronje for full disclosure during the inquiry would not cover his tax liability or an alleged offence against the Exchange Control Act for failing to declare foreign currency he has admitted was kept at his home.

With the hearings reaching a crucial stage, the King Commission said it may ask the South African President Thabo Mbeki to help them obtain the tapes from the Indian police authorities which contain transcripts of Cronje and a bookmaker. Commission spokesman John Bacon said "We have been working through the department of justice but, as a last resort, we will request the President to try to obtain the tapes for us."

In a significant development, Cronje's lawyer has virtually given a clean chit to Mohd Azharuddin and other Indian players in the match-fixing scandal. In an interview to a TV channel, John Dickinson said "Cronje has given no evidence in the King Commission to indicate or implicate any Indian player on match-fixing, including Azharuddin. He has also indicated that he has no knowledge of match-fixing. In short, no Indian player is involved in match-fixing."

Meanwhile, in an interview to a Indian newspaper, KP Singh Deo, a Lok Sabha MP said he favoured a judicial commission instead of a CBI inquiry. Singh Deo who leads the Lok Sabha XI in the annual cricket match against the Rajya Sabha XI, said "Instead of ordering a CBI-probe, the government should have instituted an inquiry by a sitting Supreme Court judge. That was my stand in Parliament, it hasn't changed."

With some of the main characters in the drama having been questioned both in India and South Africa, it remains to be seen as to what happens to the related actors. The question is will they be summoned? For instance, Salim Malik and Azharuddin by the King Commission and the heavyweights of Indian cricket by the CBI in the coming days. It seems that there is a truce of sorts for the past two days with not much action. But is it the proverbial calm before the storm?

Since the ICC is meeting, naturally the focus will be on its outcome. Interestingly, realizing that there is strength in unity, India and Pakistan have joined hands together in an international forum to fight the allegations against their countries in the 'Hansiegate' drama. But as a keen follower of the game, one is rather apprehensive on whether the ongoing fight may take a racial turn which may be deterrent to the game.