Hansie Cronje
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 South Africa (SA) |
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 |
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| Batting style | Right-handed batsman (RHB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Bowling type | Right-arm medium (RM) | |
| Tests | ODIs | |
| Matches | 68 | 188 |
| Runs scored | 3714 | 5565 |
| Batting average | 36.41 | 38.64 |
| 100s/50s | 6/23 | 2/39 |
| Top score | 135 | 112 |
| Overs bowled | 633.2 | 892.2 |
| Wickets | 43 | 114 |
| Bowling average | 29.95 | 34.78 |
| 5 wickets in innings | 0 | 1 |
| 10 wickets in match | 0 | n/a |
| Best bowling | 3/14 | 5/32 |
| Catches/stumpings | 33/0 | 73/0 |
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As of 1 January 2005 |
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Wessel Johannes "Hansie" Cronje (September 25, 1969 - June 1, 2002) was a South African cricketer (all-rounder) and captain of the South African national cricket team in the 1990s. He was voted the 11th greatest South African in 2004 despite having been banned for life from professional cricket for his role in a match-fixing scandal.
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[edit] Life and career
Born in Bloemfontein, he matriculated in 1987 from the prestigious Grey College school in Bloemfontein. An excellent all round sportsman, he represented the then Orange Free State in cricket and rugby at schools level. He made his first class debut playing for Orange Free State against Transvaal at Johannesburg in 1987/1988 at the age of 18. He made his Test debut against West Indies at Bridgetown in 1991 and one-day international debut against Australia at Sydney in the 1992 cricket World Cup soon after the ban on South Africa was lifted. (South Africa was banned from international cricket in 1970 for the apartheid policies followed by the government). Under his captaincy South Africa won 27 Tests and lost 11. He captained the One Day International team to 99 wins out of 138 one day internationals with one match drawn.
He scored 3,714 Test runs in 68 Test matches at an average of 36.41 with 6 Test centuries. He also took 43 Test wickets. He scored over 5,000 ODI runs in nearly 200 ODIs at an average of 38.64 with 2 centuries. He also took over 100 ODI wickets. He also took 33 catches in Test matches and 73 in ODIs. He scored over 10,000 first class runs at an average of 43.69 and took 184 first class wickets at an average of 34.43.
A highly talented young batsman, occasional medium pace bowler and excellent tactician, Cronje began his career at Free State, captaining them at age 21, and first playing for his country at 22. Appointed captain of South Africa in 1993, he led the side to Test series victories against New Zealand and England. He was also involved in a ball tampering incident in December 1997 in Sydney in Game 1 of the Carlton & United Series (now Commonwealth Bank Series), where police were pacifying the crowd after Pat Symcox had missiles thrown at him. Cronje thought the coast was clear to step on and drive his spikes into the ball, but he was caught by a Channel 9 (Australian TV Station, covering the game) camera. For the record, South Africa won the game by 67 runs and Pat Symcox got the Man of the Match award for sinking Australia with 4-24 from his off-spin bowling.
[edit] Match fixing
A devout Christian, it came as a great shock to the cricketing community of South Africa when, in April 2000, he confessed to being involved with the largest match fixing scandal in the game of cricket, receiving gifts and money from bookmakers to fix the results of games.
One particular incident which came to light during the King commission was when he succeeded in persuading Herschelle Gibbs and Henry Williams (a seam bowler) to join him in fixing a One Day International at Nagpur in India. Gibbs was supposed to score fewer than 20 runs and Williams was supposed to concede more than 50 runs. When this information came to light both players were suspended from playing international cricket for 6 months.[1] Convicted by the King Commission, Hansie Cronje was banned from playing or coaching cricket for life.
[edit] Plane crash
On 1 June 2002 Hansie Cronje missed a scheduled flight home from Bloemfontein to George and instead hitched a ride as the only passenger on a cargo flight in a Hawker Siddeley 748 turboprop aircraft. Near George airport, the pilots lost visibility in cloud, and were unable to land, partly due to unserviceable navigational equipment. While circling, the plane crashed into the Outeniqua mountains northeast of the airport. Hansie Cronje, aged 32, and the two pilots were killed instantly.
In August 2006 an inquest into the plane crash by South Africa's High Court started.[2] - The inquest reached the conclusion that "the death of the deceased Wessel Johannes (Hansie) Cronje was brought about by an act or omission prima facie amounting to an offence on the part of pilots." [3]
However, theories that Cronje was murdered - on the orders of a cricket betting syndicate - have flourished since his death, and were most recently re-floated by former Nottinghamshire coach Clive Rice in the wake of the murder of Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer in March 2007.[4]
[edit] Trivia
Following the introduction of shirt numbers in cricket, Cronje usually wore the number "5" on his back. Currently the number "5" is not worn by other South African players as a mark of respect. Some have worn "05" or "5+0", but not "5" on its own [5].
[edit] See also
- Declaration and forfeiture - Cronje was the only Test captain to ever forfeit an innings
- List of South Africans - voted 11 in the SABC3's Great South Africans
- List of people who died in aviation-related incidents
- List of Born-again Christian Laypeople
- List of cricketers banned for match fixing
[edit] External links
Categories: 1969 births | 2002 deaths | Free State cricketers | Leicestershire cricketers | Plane crash victims | South African ODI cricketers | South African Test cricketers | South African cricket captains | South African cricketers | South African people | Sports betting scandals | Afrikaners | Old Greys
