Introducing... Hansie Cronje: Fall From Grace
Cricket’s golden boy. A high stakes match. The scandal no one saw coming.
Sport's Strangest Crimes · BBC Radio 5 Live
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Show Notes
Hansie Cronje had it all — captain of South Africa, adored by a nation, trusted by Nelson Mandela. A symbol of hope in the post-apartheid era.
Then came the Centurion Test: a rain-ruined match is suddenly back on, thanks to a strange decision by Hansie. At first, it looks like good sportsmanship — until a wiretap in India catches something shocking. What unfolds next will change cricket forever.
In Sport’s Strangest Crimes - Hansie Cronje: Fall From Grace, former England cricketer Mark Butcher traces the rise and collapse of a national hero — from quiet warning signs and secret phone calls to a dramatic confession and a televised inquiry. But even as Hansie admits to more than just Centurion, many believe the investigation didn’t go far enough.
Sixty-three offshore bank accounts are discovered. Links to other players emerge. And just as pressure builds for a deeper probe — Hansie dies in a plane crash.
Some say pilot error. Others aren’t so sure.
Was Hansie manipulated by a powerful network of fixers? Or was he the one pulling the strings?
With testimony from teammates, journalists, investigators and those who knew him best, Mark unpacks a story of power, money, and the dark side of sport.
More than two decades on, people are still asking: who was the real Hansie Cronje?