Kepler should’ve spoken up earlier on the Cronje match-fixing saga

Former South African cricket Test captain Kepler Wessels dropped a bombshell this week when he revealed Hansie Cronje was involved in match-fixing long before he admitted to taking bribes in 2000.

During an open interview with Fox Sport’s Cricket Legends on Thursday, Wessels suggested Cronje, who went on to captain the national team, was involved in match-fixing before his own retirement in 1994.

In 2000, Cronje admitted to taking bribes since 1996 from bookmakers to influence matches. As a result, he was banned for life. He died in a plane crash in 2002.

Wessels went back to a triangular one-day international series involving themselves, Australia and Pakistan on the subcontinent 23 years ago, in 1994, as the one which made him question Cronje’s comments. It was Wessels’s last series as limited-overs skipper, while Cronje took over the captaincy reins after that.

“Hansie made a few comments during the last couple of games that led me to believe that things weren’t 100% right,” said Wessels. “We picked up a wicket and we were in the huddle and Pakistan were 120/4 or something. Hansie came into the huddle and said ‘don’t worry about this. We’re going to win this one because they’re not trying to win it’. I’m thinking: where’s that coming from?”

Yes, the revelations from Wessels are more than concerning. Yes, it’s good the truth comes out.

But why the silence until now? Why did Wessels not bring this up before? There’s been ample time – during the King Commission in 2000 or as recently as 2013, when Cronje was the only cricketer named in the charge sheet of the Delhi police relating to the match-fixing case of 2000. The charge sheet included several bookies.

Ever since the Cronje match-fixing scandal, South African cricket has had to carry the heavy burden of the past. Only last year, another match-fixing scandal rocked the domestic scene. Former national players Gulam Bodi, Thami Tsolekile and Alviro Petersen were a few of the players banned for their connection to match-fixing in the local T20 competition.

South African cricket needs to move forward. Bringing up the past, after having ample time to reveal the truth, is not the way to do it.