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SA to ask for Cronje tapes

South Africa's judicial inquiry into the match-fixing episode will seek access to the tape recordings of purported conversations, between Hansie Cronje and an Indian bookmaker, being held as evidence by Indian police.

"We are working on a request, asking the department of foreign affairs to obtain access to the tapes," South Africa's sports ministry spokesman Graham Abrahams said on Wednesday.

He said access to the tapes is necessary to ensure efficient preparation for the hearings. "It will avoid having to recall witnesses unnecessarily," he said.

Though Abrahams was unable to say when the hearings would actually begin, he said: "The investigators are hard at work and preparation is on track."

On April 7, the Indian police announced that they had conclusive evidence indicating that South African players Cronje, Herschelle Gibbs, Nicky Boje and Pieter Strydom had been involved in fixing matches during the recent five-game, one-day series between South Africa and India. The police said that as part of their investigation, they had tape-recorded conversations of Cronje, the then South African captain, and an Indian bookmaker. All denied any involvement in match-fixing, though Cronje was later sacked as South Africa's captain after admitting taking money from a bookmaker for providing information.

Agencies