Top of the list is former South Africa captain Hansie Cronje, who admitted to match-fixing having become involved with Indian bookmakers. Cronje’s most infamous plot came in a dead-rubber fifth Test against England at Centurion Park in 2000. The match had been badly affected by rain, but Cronje was adamant the teams should do all they could to ensure it did not end in a draw.
He negotiated with England skipper Nasser Hussain for both teams to forfeit an innings, leaving the tourists with a final-day run-chase, which they completed. England were unaware, but Cronje had engineered a result.
Agnew: “This was unbelievable. It came to light by accident. The Delhi police were trying to tap a phone of a bookmaker and accidentally tapped the phone of Hansie Cronje. Thank goodness they did because hopefully it is now much more difficult for a player to manipulate games of cricket.”
Zaltzman: “At the time, we all thought it was good. Cronje’s generous deal made a contest on the final day of a dead rubber. Until the true story came out, we didn’t realise what had gone was criminal. The shock of the story merits its place in this countdown.”
Finn: “A lot of these things have been the catalyst for necessary change in cricket and this was the biggest one.”
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