Ali Bacher believes cricketers still entertain bookies

Ali Bacher welcomed Delhi Police’s move to include Hansie Cronje’s name in the chargesheet involving the 1999-2000 match-fixing scandal

Former South African Test cricketer and an administrator of the United Cricket Board of South Africa, Ali Bacher believes cricketers still interact with book makers and other wrong doers to this day.

Reacting to the news by Delhi Police, who have named disgraced South African cricketer Hansie Cronje as an accused in the infamous match fixing scandal of 1999-2000, Bacher claimed that match-fixing, spot-fixing and other malpractices linked with the ‘Gentleman’s Game’ was far from over.

“Salman Butt, the former Pakistani cricket captain, has recently acknowledged that he had personally interacted with bookmakers in a Test two years ago,” Bacher told The Citizen.

In 2000, the Delhi police intercepted a conversation between a blacklisted bookie and the South African cricket captain Hansie Cronje in which they learnt that Cronje accepted money to throw matches. Initially, Cricket South Africa (CSA) rubbished these reports and were not ready to digest the facts revealed by the Delhi Police.

However, after setting up a court of inquiry and following several other legal formalities, Cronje admitted to throwing matches. Fellow South African teammates Herschelle Gibbs and Nicky Boje were also suspected of involvement but with the untimely death of Cronje in 2002, several others involved in the betting racket managed to give law enforcement the slip due to lack of evidence.

Bacher, on the other hand, welcomed the Delhi Police’s move. “Cricket lovers and supporters around the world can take heart and comfort that bookmakers allegedly involved in this malpractice are facing criminal charges,” he said.

Bacher, who once upon a time, was firm on Cronje’s honesty and integrity had to relinquish his opinion on fellow countryman after the cricketer broke down and confessed to his role in the scandal.

Source: Business Standard