Time to stop fooling with the match-fixers

Match fixing and racism are two of the ugliest expressions in cricket's lexicon.

As they signify acts of cheating and bigotry, anyone found guilty of such malpractice with its attendant corruption and malicious acts against fellow players, don't deserve to be involved in the game.

Had he lived, Hansie Cronjé would have been quick to warn West Indies all-rounder Marlon Samuels why it doesn't pay to play around with crooked bookies. Or any bookie for that matter.

Especially when those with the big money planning such dodgy deals yet do the smooth talking, are pretending to be your very best pal and family provider.

Cronjé, it has been claimed by close friends, was writing a book on the subject of what players should know so that they would not fall into his trap.

Yet like the Jamaican Samuels, Cronjé was always a little greedy for that extra, even if it meant lying about it.

Among those partly responsible but out to fatten their own bank accounts based on fraudulent deals there are Sanjay Chawla and Marlon Aronstam. Just a couple of cunning and conniving rouges among the many out make a quick buck and do a duck to let the guilty player face the inquisition of justice and order.

While the Jamaican will get a deserving two-year ban, the late South African captain and others who were caught with their crooked fingers in the web woven mostly by opportunist Indian bookmakers, were given life. And they deserved it.

Now Salim Malik is pleading with a typical devious glibness how he has suffered enough and wants his case reviewed. He should have thought of this before asking Cronjé if 'John' had called him with an offer.

This was during the Mandela Trophy final at Newlands in Cape Town in January 1995 when the former Pakistan captain's true image surfaced.

Like racism, there is no part in the game for those who attempt to defeat justice and lie about it. Like politicians, they are cheating the public and further stealing the game's integrity through their phoney denials and dishonest deals.

And oh, how did Samuels at the time deny the allegations. As too did Cronjé.

"Anyone can check my bank account," he said on the Sunday night of April 11, 2000 in Durban when facing the media.

Seated nearby were the other two monkeys in this show, Nicky Bojé and Herschelle Gibbs. With Cronjé seated between Ali Bacher and Percy Sonn, it was like seeing two stooges in a see no evil, hear no evil act. While Gibbs was implicated, Bojé has long been seen to be clean.

Barely 30 hours later, branded with a searing guilt and a mind-crippling deception, Croné crumbled and admitted he had cheated. As with Samuels, you cannot steal the truth, as do so many politicians and hope to get away with it.

What was uncovered here has been Indian law enforcement's vigilance in exposing such crooked deals as those made by Cronjé and later Samuels. They should have known better not to lie about it.