How the match-fixing drama unfolded - Part 13

Former New Zealand captain Martin Crowe is exonerated of any wrongdoing by the independent Inquiry commissioned by the New Zealand Cricket Board. The report, co-authored by Sir Ian Barker and Nick Davidson is formally received by the New Zealand Cricket Board at its meeting. The chairman, Sir John Anderson, says the New Zealand Cricket Board fully accepts the Inquiry findings and thanks the inquiry team for their detailed and thorough investigation of the issues and their clear and concise conclusions. "The Board fully accepts the principal findings of the inquiry that that former New Zealand captain, Martin Crowe, was unfairly accused, and there is no evidence of any wrongdoing on his part. The Board believes the 'name and shame' approach of the initial Indian CBI report offended principles of natural justice. Martin Crowe can hold his head high in the knowledge that he has been exonerated by this rigorous and independent inquiry. The Board accepts the allegations of corruption against Martin were without substance and considers the matter now closed," says Sir John. The inquiry concludes: Based on the evidence before this Inquiry, Martin Crowe's name has been most unfairly sullied. His conduct, and his credibility before the Inquiry, are strongly in support of the image of an honest man who has told the truth.

Former New Zealand captain Martin Crowe is expected to be cleared of involvement in match-fixing when an inquiry announces its verdict this week, according to a report. Crowe, arguably New Zealand's greatest batsman, is one of nine internationals past and present named by Indian bookmaker Mukesh Gupta whose allegations nine months ago sparked inquiries throughout the cricket-playing world, the Auckland Sunday Star-Times reported. An announcement is expected after the New Zealand Cricket board (NZC) meets Tuesday. It will review a 70-page report of an independent interview with Crowe earlier this month. Crowe and his manager David Howman refuse to comment until the NZC decision is made.

The public prosecutor in the Justice King Commission of Inquiry Shamila Batohi says that in the absence of crucial information from Indian authorities, former South African captain Hansie Cronje cannot be charged with any crime. Batohi, who was the evidence leader in King Commission says in an interview in Durban that there is no evidence to show that Cronje had accepted a bribe, was involved in fradulent behaviour or had not disclosed all his earnings to the Receiver of Revenue. Batohi, now head of the Special Police Unit Scorpions in KwaZulu-Natal, agrees with legal experts that Cronje's alleged match-fixing falls within the realm of moral indignation and is not a criminal offence. It was an offence only in India and Indian authorities had failed to co-operate with the King Commission by refusing to pass over taped transcripts of conversations between an Indian bookmaker and Cronje, Batohi says. Batohi had visited New Delhi last year as part of her investigations in order to gather information from the Indian authorities. At that time, Batohi had said the Indian authorities were very cooperative thought she failed to secure a copy of the taped conversations. However, in the interview to the Sunday Tribune newspaper, she says, "Co-operation from the Indian police was not forthcoming. In the end, even though Cronje had conditional indemnity, we are sitting with legal questions about what to charge him with. But this does not mean that at the end of the amnesty investigations, there would not be criminal charges instituted against him. A decision will have to be taken by the National Prosecuting Authority," she says.

South Africa's national prosecuting authority says before deciding on Hansie Cronje's indemnity it would investigate whether the former cricket captain told the truth about match-fixing allegations. "We have to be satisfied that Hansie told the truth (to the King Commission of inquiry into match-fixing)," national director of public prosecutions, Bulelani Ngcuka, tells journalists after meeting Cronje's lawyer in Pretoria. "If we find he had done so we will be happy to grant him indemnity. If not, we will be equally happy to prosecute him," Ngcuka says.

An angry former South African cricket captain Hansie Cronje claims he had cooperated fully with the King Commission and an investigation into his financial affairs. "Nothing has been concealed from the commissioner nor from the public," says the 31-year-old, who has mounted a High Court challenge to a life ban from cricket after he admitted taking money from bookmakers. "We gave them the account numbers so they could do the forensic audit," he tells a press conference, rejecting allegations of secret bank accounts and unexplained deposits as "blatant lies and half truths". The sacked former captain says he will meet with Bulelani Ngquka, director of public prosecutions, to obtain clarity on the status of his indemnity. He says he will also complain to Nguka about the role of South African-based Sunday Telegraph journalist Neil Manthorp, who he said had been "irresponsible" in writing about leaked confidential documents. He threatens legal action against newspapers and journalists who had written "defamatory" articles about him.

The United Cricket Board of South Africa finally breaks its silence on the Hansie Cronje saga by announcing that the former captain would never again be allowed into the sport. "Even if Cronje succeeds in overturning the life ban against him in the (Pretoria) High Court, we will embark on another disciplinary hearing to impose another life ban on him", Board president Percy Sonn says. His statement comes in the wake of a report published by London's 'Sunday Times' that an audit carried out into Cronje's finances had found that the former skipper had made 120 deposits into 19 accounts during his five-year term that could not be identified as either salary, endorsements or any other declared income. The total amount in the accounts is stated to be 10.5 million rand (about $1.3 million). Cronje dismisses the report as "irresponsible and malicious" journalism.

A former Board president accuses the present members of not giving Hansie Cronje a "fair hearing" and suggests that it would have been better if he had kept silent on match-fixing like other cricketers. "In its haste to appease a couple of powerful voices in the ICC, the South African Cricket Board enveloped Cronje in a life ban without bothering to go through any of the processes demanded by the principles of natural justice," former South African Cricket chief, Ray White says. "There were a host of other international cricketers whose presence on the list of suspects has done nothing to diminish their cricket careers", White adds. He says Cronje's decision to fight his life ban is right and "it is almost certain that this is a legal fight that the Board cannot win". Cronje's application to have the life ban imposed on him lifted may come up for hearing in September.

The South African Directorate of Public Prosecutions says they will be looking into the allegations that former South African cricket captain Hansie Cronje held 19 secret accounts, a charge which he denies. Sipho Ngwema, spokesman for the Directorate tells a news agency that while his body was primarily concentrating on King's report they would also be looking into the report about the secret accounts in the British newspaper 'The Sunday Telegraph'. "At this stage we are still looking at the King Commission (a government inquiry into match-fixing) report and if there is any need to do further investigation. Naturally we will look into these reports," he adds.

Former South African captain Hansie Cronje denies reports that he holds secret bank accounts amounting to 10.5 million rand (about $1.3 million) during his five-year term as skipper. "I can tell for a fact that every single one of the bank accounts that I have owned in my life or opened were given to the (King) Commission and to the auditors," Cronje tells a Johannesburg radio station. London's 'Sunday Times' had reported that an audit carried out into Cronje's finances at the request of the just-disbanded King Commission of Inquiry into match-fixing had found that 120 deposits had been made into 19 accounts that could not be identified as either salary, endorsements or any other declared income. The latest revelations come at a time when Cronje is fighting a court battle to have the life ban, imposed on him by the United Cricket Board of South Africa, lifted. "The disclosures are not going to help Cronje at all. He will not have any place to hide this time," says Neil Manthorp, the cricket commentator who had written the 'Times' article. His report also says Cronje holds eight properties that varied in value.

Former South African cricket captain Hansie Cronje, who is fighting a court battle to have the life ban imposed on him lifted, is asked by the country's Director of Public Prosecutions to provide all information about his bank deposits since 1994. Confirming this, a spokesman of National Director of Public Prosecutions Bulelani Ngcuka says: "We are studying Judge Edwin King's report on match-fixing and would meet with Cronje's lawyers next week. The report will guide us on what actions should be taken against Cronje. The office has not set any deadline". Cronje tells a private radio station in Johannesburg that he is spending many hours going through his bank deposits since May 1994 at the request of the Director of Public Prosecutions. "I am going through all my bank deposits in order provide the necessary information to the Director's office", he tells the radio station.

The life ban on former South African cricket captain Hansie Cronje has not been lifted and he is still awaiting a High Court hearing in this regard, his lawyer Leslie Sackstein says. He dismisses reports in the English media that the ban on the former captain, following his admission of guilt in accepting money for providing pitch and weather information to bookmakers, has been lifted. According to him, Cronje is keenly awaiting the High Court order in September when an application for overturning his life ban comes up for hearing. "We have a pretty good case," he says. "You cannot unilaterally decide to sanction somebody. They (United Cricket Board of South Africa) took the law into their own hands." Earlier, UCB's public relations manager Bronwyn Wilkinson said reports of the ban being lifted were 'mere speculation'. "Cronje is challenging his life ban in court and this will be heard in September. It is therefore premature to say that we have lifted his banning order," Wilkinson says.

The Sri Lankan Cricket Board says it needs three weeks for a final ruling on the outcome of a match-fixing probe against former Test skipper Arjuna Ranatunga and his deputy Aravinda de Silva. The Board says the findings made public yesterday by the lone investigator who "cleared" the two players could not be considered as final. The BCCSL's interim president Vijaya Malalasekara says the Board had agreed to keep the ICC informed before going public on the inquiry conducted by investigator Desmond Fernando. Malalasekara underlines that it is too early to presume the two had been cleared. "A final ruling will be made by the local body. We have to satisfy ourselves first and we don't want to go public before informing the ICC because there are international ramifications of this," Malalasekara says, adding that he has received Fernando's "interim report" but needed another three weeks to study it, make a recommendation to the BCCSL and then inform ICC's anticorruption panel headed by Sir Paul Condon.

Sri Lanka's former Test skipper Arjuna Ranatunga and his deputy Aravinda de Silva are cleared of match-fixing charges due to "inadequate and untested" evidence, according to the leading local investigator Desmond Fernando in Colombo. The cricketing duo are cleared after an eight-month investigation conducted by Fernando, a lawyer by profession and Sri Lanka's representative in the Code of Conduct Committee of the ICC. The allegations against the two Sri Lankan players were contained in a report by India's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) which had looked into charges against players in that country. Indian bookmaker Mukesh Gupta had claimed in testimony published in the CBI report that Ranatunga and De Silva helped him fix an Indian victory in the Lucknow Test in 1994. During the course of the investigation, Fernando went to India twice before concluding there was insufficient evidence against the two top players and underlining that he accepted their testimony in which they said they were innocent. "I reiterate that Mr. Gupta's statement was inadequate, untested and had infirmities which rendered his statement impossible to be acted upon," Fernando says, adding that Gupta refused to be interview by him.

The Australian Cricket Board says that Findings into corruption allegations against Australian cricketer Mark Waugh are expected soon. Both Waugh and former England captain Alec Stewart, who has been cleared of similar charges, were accused by Indian bookmaker Mukesh Gupta of accepting money for information. Stewart was cleared of any wrongdoing by the ICC's anti-corruption unit after Gupta declined to give evidence to its inquiry. The ACB says it has asked its anti-corruption investigator Greg Melick to wind up his report into Gupta's allegations against Waugh. "Ten days ago, when Gupta decided not to co-operate with the inquiry, we wrote to Greg Melick and asked him to prepare the report for us," ACB chief executive James Sutherland says. "We expect that report will be ready sooner rather than later."

England wicket-keeper Alec Stewart is cleared of allegations that he took money from a bookmaker in return for providing team and pitch information during England's 1992-93 tour of India, Sir Paul Condon's Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) confirms in a statement in London. Stewart, 38, was interviewed by members of the ACU and the ICC a fortnight ago. Today's decision is fully supported by Lord MacLurian, chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board. "Lord Condon's anti-corruption unit has undertaken a very thorough investigation into the allegations made against Alec Stewart and has concluded that there exists no substantive evidence justifying proceedings against Alec in relation to this matter. The matter is therefore closed," the statement says.

Sri Lanka's special anti corruption investigator Desmond Fernando confirms that he has completed his match fixing investigations and will hand over his report to the Sri Lankan Cricket Board tomorrow. Fernando, appointed in November last year by the the Board was asked to investigate allegations made by Indian bookmaker Mukesh Gupta that Arjuna Ranatnga and Aravinda de Silva accepted money to under perform in the 1994 tour of India. He was initially given one month to complete his report, but this was then extended to allow Fernando to travel to India and UK in search of new evidence and an elusive interview with Gupta. Further delays then occurred because of the postponement of meetings with Ranatunga and De Silva. Fernando has taken eight months to finish the report and will be handed to the Interim Committee Chairman, Vijaya Malalsekera. The report, however, is likely to prove inconclusive. Fernando's failure to meet with Gupta means that the bookmaker's allegations cannot be substantiated, unless Fernando unearthed new evidence during the course of his enquiry.

British media reports say that Indian book-maker Mukesh Gupta's refusal to substantiate his allegations against England's Alec Stewart and several other cricketers came due to a fear of being prosecuted under Foreign Exchange Management Act. ICC Anti-Corruption Unit Director Sir Paul Condon had hoped to persuade Gupta to either come to London or be available on a video link for the Stewart interview but Gupta refused, "fearing prosecution under Indian FEMA over the 5,000 pounds he allegedly paid to Stewart," the Telegraph says.

The Telegraph, quoting well placed sources, says that Pakistani batsman Inzamam-Ul Haq could be questioned by Sir Paul Condon's anti-corruption unit regarding his performance in a one-day match against Australia during last month's triangular series also involving England. Suspicions regarding Inzamam centred on his second-ball duck against Australia in the one-day match at Cardiff on June 9. He was stumped by Adam Gilchrist off Shane Warne and Simon Briggs, the Daily Telegraph reporter covering the match - which Pakistan lost - recorded that Inzamam appeared to react to the stationing of a silly point by "sallying pointlessly down the pitch". Inzamam had earlier been questioned by Justice Malik Mohammad Qayyum during his inquiry into match-fixing last year.

The ICC says that investigations into corruption allegations against several top cricketers are set to be dropped after an Indian bookmaker fails to give further evidence of the claims. Indian bookie Mukesh Gupta had alleged to investigators in New Delhi that he paid thousand of dollars in cash to several cricketers, including England's Alec Stewart. But after a request from the ICC's Anti-Corruption Unit for Gupta to testify formally over his allegations the bookmaker failed to respond, the ICC says in a statement. A July 1 deadline for Gupta to co-operate with the ACU passed on Monday, and his allegations will now not be investigated further, the ICC says. "To bring clarity to the situation Gupta was given to 1st July to make up his mind," the ICC statement says. "He has not responded and it is assumed that he will not allow his allegations to be tested," the statement adds.

Official investigator Desmond Fernando says the much-awaited report on allegations of match-fixing against former Sri Lankan cricket captain Arjuna Ranatunga and star batsman Aravinda de Silva may be completed by July 10. "It may be ready on or about July 10," says Fernando in Colombo. He will be submitting the report to the Sri Lankan Cricket Board's interim administration as soon as it was completed. Fernando, a senior lawyer, was asked by the Board to probe the charges made by Indian book-maker Mukesh Gupta against the two cricket stars.

Indian Cricket Board president AC Muthiah says Indian cricket has survived the match-fixing scandal and emerged stronger and more vibrant in the past year. "India has been the forerunner in stalling match-fixing," Muthiah says at the annual day function organised by the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association, which Muthiah heads. "India was one of the few countries to initiate action in connection with the scandal and every cricket-playing nation has acknowledged this. The board had to face one obstacle after another and I think we came out of it well," says Muthiah.

Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Lt Gen Tauqir Zia forms a judicial committee to tackle betting, gambling and match fixing. He also dissolves the board's five member advisory council. "A retired high court judge, to be named later, will head the review committee which will tackle betting, gambling and match fixing," a PCB press release says. "PCB's chief investigator Israr Ahmed and Asif Shah will be the members of the review committee." PCB director of operations Brig. Munawwar Rana tells a news agency "the formation of committees is done solely to make people more responsible and answerable for their work,"