SA media calls for banning the guilty

In its editorial on Monday the daily said, “Clearly, the immediate priority of the International Cricket Council (ICC) is to expose to full extent the cancer that has infiltrated the game and then to mercilessly banish those who have tarnised the reputation of this once-noble pursuit.

“But whether ICC, which is frequently lampooned as a clique of gin-swilling geriatrics, has the guts or the muscle to get to the very heart of the scandal remains to be seen.

“Since the release of the CBI report, most of the players named have indignantly pleaded innocence, just as Cronje did until the pressure mounted. It is a sad reflection on the current morality in cricket that one would hardly have expected to do them otherwise.”

The newspaper said what was not acceptable was senior officials of many countries rushing to defend their respective players “without bothering to establish the full extent to which they may, or may not, be implicated in match-fixing or any other unacceptable conduct”.

“ICC, if it wants to restore cricket’s badly tarnished reputation, must look inward, stop covering up for its members and stop pretending that the game is immune to the encroachment of greedy players and their criminal bedfellows. There is no place to hide”.

Meanwhile, lawyers of disgraced cricketer Hansie Cronje are waiting for a formal letter from the United Cricket Board saying it will reconsider its decision to ban the player for life if he commits himself to “rehabilitation”.

The lawyers were reacting to a statement by UCB president Percy Sonn that the Board was prepared to give Cronje another chance provided he subjects himself to a process of “remorse and rehabilitation”.

According to sources, UCB was showing some leniency towards Cronje because it had apparently acted unconstitutionally by banning him from all involvement in cricket. His lawyers are challenging the decision in the High Court.