Hansie Cronje darkens South Africa’s new dawn
Following years of exile from Test cricket due to apartheid, South Africa were allowed to play five-day cricket once again in 1991, after the release of Nelson Mandela from prison heralded a new era for the country.
Yet that new positive movement for a once oppressive country was halted by one man in the late-1990s – Hansie Cronje.
Former captain Cronje was banned from playing cricket form life after he was discovered to have made deals with bookmakers to fix matches.
With the recent Quyyam inquiry this was not the sort of press international cricket needed, as it suddenly appeared that cheating, bribery and corruption was rife throughout the game and Cronje brought a few Proteas players down with him.
Batsman Herschelle Gibbs and bowler Henry Williams were both given six-month bans for their involvement with the skipper, with Williams actually receiving money in return for him playing poorly.
As the scandal rumbled on other cricket nations were about to be outed.
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