💰 Hansie Cronje got a life ban after admitting $100,000 bribes

Cricket Australia won't reopen Sandpapergate, so here is the Cronje ban on record. Khawaja's claims are disputed. ⏳

By , sports desk · Desk editor Gustavs Ērkšķis-Kreicbergs · · 3 min read

International Cricket CouncilLIFE BANPhoto: PaddyBriggs at English Wikipedia · Public domain

Photo: PaddyBriggs at English Wikipedia, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Desaturated and cropped by MrScandal.

By the numbers

  • 6 mofrom first to latest entry on recordApr 2000 to Oct 2000, 3 dated entries in the file
  • 2receipts behind this story2 news reports, 2013 to 2026

Counted by MrScandal from the receipts, the Files and our rankings.

Cricket Australia has closed the door on Sandpapergate. CEO Todd Greenberg told SEN radio the board will not reopen its investigation into the 2018 ball-tampering row, after Usman Khawaja claimed in his autobiography that the whole team knew about it. Warner has backed Khawaja's version, per Mr Cricket UAE. Greenberg says other players have a very different one.

What we know

  • Cricket Australia CEO Todd Greenberg told SEN radio the board will not reopen the 2018 sandpaper investigation, per a Mr Cricket UAE report of 10 Nov 2026.
  • Usman Khawaja claims in his book 'Sabr' that the whole Australian team knew about the ball-tampering in Cape Town; Greenberg says other players give a very different version.
  • David Warner was handed a one-year ban by Cricket Australia over the incident and backs Khawaja, per the same report.
  • The South African board imposed a life ban on Hansie Cronje on October 11, 2000, per Cricinfo's timeline.
  • Cronje told South Africa's King Commission on June 15, 2000 that he took about $100,000 in bribes from gamblers since 1996, per Cricinfo.

"There's absolutely no benefit in going back. That's the clear position of the CA board."

Todd Greenberg, Cricket Australia CEO, to SEN radio, as reported by Mr Cricket UAE

So to the scoreboard of cricket's heaviest punishments. The pack we worked from carries one full timeline: Hansie Cronje, 2000. It is the template for how a fixing scandal goes from denial to life ban. We could not confirm the 2010 spot-fixing case or any other ban lengths from the documents read, so they are not ranked here.

The Cronje timeline, 2000 to 2013

01

April 7, 2000: Delhi police bring the charge

Delhi police charge South Africa captain Hansie Cronje with fixing ODIs against India for money, per Cricinfo's timeline. They also release transcripts of an alleged conversation between Cronje and Indian businessman Sanjay Chawla. Cronje denies any involvement, and the South African board rallies behind him.

See the receipt (opens in a new tab)
02

April 9 to 11, 2000: denial, then a 3am call

Two days on, Cronje tells a press conference he denies ever receiving any sum of money in the India series. By April 11 the board has sacked him after he phoned managing director Ali Bacher at 3am and admitted he had been dishonest. Cinfo records him acknowledging $10,000 to 15,000 for providing information and forecasts, which he said was not match-fixing.

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"I want to make it 100% clear that I deny ever receiving any sum of money during the one-day international series in India."

Hansie Cronje, press conference, April 9, 2000, per Cricinfo
03

June 2000: the King Commission hears the numbers

Pat Symcox testifies that Cronje conveyed an offer of $250,000 to lose a one-dayer in Mumbai in 1996. Herschelle Gibbs confesses he accepted an offer of $15,000 to make fewer than 20 runs, and Henry Williams says he was offered $15,000 to bowl expensively, per Cricinfo. Cronje is offered immunity from criminal prosecution in South Africa for a full disclosure.

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04

June 15, 2000: about $100,000 admitted

Cronje confesses to taking about $100,000 in bribes from gamblers since 1996 and announces his retirement. He says he never threw or fixed a match. He also names former India captain Mohammad Azharuddin as the man who introduced him to a bookie; Azharuddin calls that 'rubbish', per Cricinfo.

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05

August 28 and October 11, 2000: the bans land

The UCBSA bans Gibbs and Williams from international cricket until December 31, 2000, and Pieter Strydom is acquitted of conspiring to bet on the Centurion Test. On October 11 the board imposes a life ban on Cronje, extending to all its related cricket activities. That is the heavy end of the scoreboard.

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06

July 22, 2013: the chargesheet

More than 13 years after the scandal broke, Cronje is the only cricketer named in the chargesheet filed by Delhi Police over the 2000 case, per Cricinfo. The chargesheet includes several bookies. Cronje had died on June 1, 2002.

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Back to 2018

Compare the machinery. In 2000 an inquiry heard testimony, took confessions and handed down a life ban. In 2018 Warner took a one-year ban from Cricket Australia, per Mr Cricket UAE. Khawaja says he was never interviewed despite sitting next to Cameron Bancroft in Cape Town. Greenberg says the matter was dealt with under previous leadership and he will not second-guess it. MrMuscles notes that Greenberg expects Pat Cummins and other players to comment in the coming days or weeks.

Quick quiz · 3 questions

  1. On the record or still rumour?Cricket Australia says it will not reopen the 2018 inquiry; the South African board imposed a life ban on Cronje on October 11, 2000, after he admitted taking about $100,000.
  2. On the record or still rumour?Khawaja's claim that the whole team knew is disputed by other players; the 2010 spot-fixing case and other ban lengths are not confirmed in the documents read.
  3. Which year?The UCBSA imposed a life ban on Cronje, per Cricinfo

More games on the record: Price Tag · Timeline

The Hansie Cronje file

Last entry Oct 11, 2000
  1. Ruled

    The UCBSA imposed a life ban on Cronje, per Cricinfo. This story

  2. Admitted

    Cronje told the King Commission he took about $100,000 in bribes from gamblers since 1996, per Cricinfo. This story

  3. Filed

    Delhi police charged Cronje with fixing South Africa's ODIs against India; he denied it, per Cricinfo. This story

On file: The Hansie Cronje file · The International Cricket Council file

The Ledger

On the record

  • Cricket Australia says it will not reopen the 2018 inquiry; the South African board imposed a life ban on Cronje on October 11, 2000, after he admitted taking about $100,000.

Still rumour

  • Khawaja's claim that the whole team knew is disputed by other players; the 2010 spot-fixing case and other ban lengths are not confirmed in the documents read.

That's the record. The rest is rumour. - MrMuscles

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