Cronje steps up for second innings

Hansie Cronje takes the stand again on Tuesday for his second, and in all probability, most gruelling appearance before the King commission.

Last Thursday Cronje gave his evidence-in-chief, reading from a 22-page statement submitted to the commission. He was spared the ordeal of cross-examination, but this will come on Tuesday with the teams of lawyers representing he commission and the United Cricket Board likely to go through his evidence in minute detail.

Opinion is divided as to whether Cronje has disclosed the whole truth about his dealings with bookmakers. He lied in his previous statements and "confessions", and Thursday's disclosures have been welcomed with some scepticism.

What is most troubling is the apparent gap between the 1996/97 season, when he accepted $80 000 from in two separate payments from Mukesh Gupta, to the Centurion Park Test match this year.

According to Cronje: "After the 1996/1997 Indian tour to South Africa, MK (Gupta) contacted me on a few occasions. He requested information, I think this was during the quadrangular One-day international series in Pakistan, involving South Africa, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and West Indies - I refused. I cannot recall speaking to MK again."

Cronje said he had no further contact with bookmakers until Centurion Park, but it seems curious that having taken money, he was left alone for almost three years before next being approached.

Cronje may also be required to supply more details of the death threats he allegedly received: who threatened him and where and when? Cronje's explanation for his activities on Thursday was that he had gradually been drawn into a web of deceit from which he could eventually find no escape.

In one respect Cronje is fortunate. The sharp-tongued Jeremy Gauntlett, acting for the United Cricket Board, will not be at the hearings for the cross-examination. He has a prior engagement, and Brendan Manca will step up to take his place.

But perhaps the King commission's Shamila Batohi will take an even more central role. Throughout the hearings, the UCB strategy appears to have been to place most of the blame for the scandal on Cronje, but the commission itself is charged with uncovering the full truth behind the affair.

Following Cronje into the witness box on Tuesday, assuming that Cronje's cross-examination takes no longer than a day, will be Hamied "Banjo" Cassim, the sweetshop owner who introduced Cronje to "Sanjay". Cassim's evidence could confirm the link between Cronje and the murky world of sports betting on the sub-continent.