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April 17, 2000 Hansie Cronje losing lucrative sponsorships in the first indication of how scandals like match-fixing can hurt cricket in the long run. Adidas SA and Spurs Steak Ranches restaurant have decided to end links with the former South African skipper because they do not want consumers or patrons to associate their brand names with a disgraced cricketer. Others will follow suit as an ostracized Cronje will realize the extent to which he has blackened his own face and that of cricket by admitting 'dishonest' links with bookies. Apart from all this, the shame faced by South Africa as a nation is a cross he will have to bear for the rest of his life, whatever penance he undertakes. The message coming out of the Cronje affair for a cricket-crazy nation like India cannot be underplayed. As for now, we have the relative comfort of taking a detached view of the whole controversy, since the culprits are a few bookies who operate on the fringes of society and a cricket captain of foreign nation. But it will not be long before the winds blow our way, either due to the follow-up by the New Delhi police or by a desperate South Africa wanting to deflect international attention. Then there will no way to escape the stink of scandal involving Indian cricketers, whose links with bookies cannot be entirely ruled out. After all, Cronje's confession is not an isolated incident, only the first admission of guilt after Mark Waugh and Shane Warne were fined by the Australian Cricket Board for similar links with bookies. Before things get out of hand, the onus is on the Board of Control for Cricket in India, the body controlling the sport, to get to the heart of the matter. The first step would be to find out whether the Indian cricketers involved in the Pepsi one-day series against South Africa to come clean. Once the BCCI is clear that none of the players on Ganguly's squad are 'Cronjes in disguise', the Board can go public with the knowledge that none of the Indians involved in the recent one-dayers are tainted. It will be a reassuring message for the event sponsor Pepsi and others putting their money on the game through in-staid advertising and on television. The BCCI declaration will also serve to put to rest the doubts in the minds of the spectators in each of the five centres- Kochi, Jamshedpur, Faridabad, Baroda and Nagpur- who watched the one-dayers. Once the negative impact of the Cronje confession on the game is countered, the Board can then concentrate on long-term damage control. The fact that the New Delhi police did not even bother to keep the BCCI informed about their investigations into the Indo-South African bookie links shows the extent of credibility the Board enjoys in India. Now is the time for them to act without fear or favor and settle this issue once and for all, even if it means putting a few big-time cricketers out of business. Otherwise, with fans and sponsors contemplating whether to turn their backs on cricket in the wake of the Cronje affair, Lele and company will have no game left to govern. Hansie Cronje losing lucrative sponsorships in the first indication of how scandals like match-fixing can hurt cricket in the long run. Adidas SA and Spurs Steak Ranches restaurant have decided to end links with the former South African skipper because they do not want consumers or patrons to associate their brand names with a disgraced cricketer. Others will follow suit as an ostracised Cronje will realise the extent to which he has blackened his own face and that of cricket by admitting 'dishonest' links with bookies. Apart from all this, the shame faced by South Africa as a nation is a cross he will have to bear for the rest of his life, whatever penance he undertakes. The message coming out of the Cronje affair for a cricket-crazy nation like India cannot be underplayed. As for now, we have the relative comfort of taking a detached view of the whole controversy, since the culprits are a few bookies who operate on the fringes of society and a cricket captain of foreign nation. But it will not be long before the winds blow our way, either due to the follow-up by the New Delhi police or by a desperate South Africa wanting to deflect international attention. Then there will no way to escape the stink of scandal involving Indian cricketers, whose links with bookies cannot be entirely ruled out. After all, Cronje's confession is not an isolated incident, only the first admission of guilt after Mark Waugh and Shane Warne were fined by the Australian Cricket Board for similar links with bookies. Before things get out of hand, the onus is on the Board of Control for Cricket in India, the body controlling the sport, to get to the heart of the matter. The first step would be to find out whether the Indian cricketers involved in the Pepsi one-day series against South Africa to come clean. Once the BCCI is clear that none of the players on Ganguly's squad are 'Cronjes in disguise', the Board can go public with the knowledge that none of the Indians involved in the recent one-dayers are tainted. It will be a reassuring message for the event sponsor Pepsi and others putting their money on the game through in-stadia advertising and on television. The BCCI declaration will also serve to put to rest the doubts in the minds of the spectators in each of the five centres- Kochi, Jamshedpur, Faridabad, Baroda and Nagpur- who watched the one-dayers. Once the negative impact of the Cronje confession on the game is countered, the Board can then concentrate on long-term damage control. The fact that the New Delhi police did not even bother to keep the BCCI informed about their investigations into the Indo-South African bookie links shows the extent of credibility the Board enjoys in India. Now is the time for them to act without fear or favour and settle this issue once and for all, even if it means putting a few big-time cricketers out of business. Otherwise, with fans and sponsors contemplating whether to turn their backs on cricket in the wake of the Cronje affair, Lele and company will have no game left to govern. Bangla2000 News |