Williams, Strydom confess now, Gibbs dropped from Lanka tour

All-rounder Pieter Strydom said Cronje had offered him up to $ 20,000 if the team scored fewer than 250 runs in a Test against India in February. Strydom said he had declined the offer.

Meanwhile, opener Herschelle Gibbs, who admitted yesterday that he had accepted a bribe offer from Cronje, was dropped from the national team for a tour of Sri Lanka.

Williams said he had accepted the offer made by Cronje in exchange for conceding at least 50 runs in his 10 overs during the last One-day international against India in March. He did not complete his second over because of a shoulder injury and was not paid.

Williams said Cronje made the offer to him and teammate Gibbs in their hotel room in Nagpur before the match. “When I walked out of the bathroom, I saw Hansie Cronje in our room. He had a big smile on his face and was talking to Gibbs,” Williams told the Commission.

“He (Cronje) said someone — he did not name him — had phoned him and said he would pay money to us to throw the game.

“I had to concede more than 50 runs in my overs. Gibbs had to score less than 20 and the team had to score less than 270. I was nervous but because Herschelle agreed, so did I.” Williams added: “I had a lot of respect for my captain and if he could do it, why couldn’t I?”

Williams did not receive any money after the match and said he wanted to clear his name at the inquiry. “I was stupid. I should have known better,” he said.

Strydom said Cronje had claimed he could earn up to $ 20,000 dollars if the team scored fewer than 250 runs in a Test against India in February. Strydom, who is among four South African players accused by the Indian police of match-rigging, said the match was the first Test against India in Mumbai, starting on February 24.

“Hansie told me I could get 70,000 rand ($10,000) if we scored less than 250. I said no but I may have considered it if I had played 50 or 60 Test matches,” Strydom said.

“He did not put pressure on me but later in the day he nudged me and said with a smile How about 140,000 rand ($20,000 dollars)?’ but I just laughed.”

The United Cricket Board (UCB) said today that Gibbs had been dropped from the team for next month’s Sri Lanka tour and would face a disciplinary hearing after confessing he had accepted an offer of a bribe from Cronje.

UCB managing director Ali Bacher said an inquiry would be set up as soon as possible following Gibbs’s admission yesterday that he had agreed in India this year to an offer of $ 15,000 from Cronje to lose his wicket for under 20 runs and later to lie about the deal.

“He will not tour Sri Lanka with the South African team,” Bacher said. “A disciplinary hearing will be conducted at the earliest appropriate time.”

After learning of his fate, Gibbs apologised to Bacher, UCB communications manager Bronwyn Wilkinson told the inquiry. “Gibbs telephoned Bacher…and said: “Ali, I’m desperately sorry for what I have done,” she said.

Bacher told Reuters that Williams, who had not been selected for the Sri Lanka tour, would also face a disciplinary hearing after the King Commission completed its work.

“We will await Judge King’s interim report and his recommendations on Williams and thereafter Williams will obviously have to appear before a UCB disciplinary committee.”

Nicky Boje told the Commission today that he was shocked to hear his name linked to the scandal and said Cronje had never approached him with an offer to play badly. Boje said he could not explain why his name appeared in a transcript of conversations between Cronje and a bookmaker.

“The only person who can answer that is Hansie Cronje himself. I was shocked and surprised at hearing he had mentioned me,” Boje said.