Hansie Cronje, match-fixing and the plane crash which left a complex legacy

That love of money meant Cronje was also one of the most accessible cricket captains around and he was regularly visited by people, particularly while on tour in South Asia.

The rest of the South Africa squad would roll their eyes when yet another stranger would walk in for a meeting with him.

It led to dealings with unscrupulous characters. In particular those involved with betting, and there was an early portent of what was to come in 1996.

Before a one-off ODI between South Africa and India, tagged on to the end of a Test tour as a benefit match for Mohinder Amarnath, Cronje called a meeting in their Mumbai hotel for the players to consider an offer of $250,000 to throw the match.

It was rejected, but it showed how secure Cronje was in his position.

"Bringing it up in a team meeting was indicative of the power and untouchability that he felt," observed South African journalist Neil Manthorp.

Fast forward to Nagpur in 2000, Cronje attempted to coerce South Africa batter Herschelle Gibbs and seam bowler Henry Williams into spot-fixing offences.

Both men agreed, but subsequently did not carry out the instructions.

"I always found it a struggle to actually say 'no' to him, you know?" reflected Gibbs.

"He was regarded in such high esteem and respected so much, and I never once thought of the consequences."

Both Gibbs and Williams were non-white players but suggestions it was racially motivated are dismissed by those who know Cronje.

Still, how was Cronje able to manipulate his team-mates with such ease? Manthorp said he was on an "elevated platform" and "very few people were prepared to stand up to him".

"Hansie had quite a temper. He'd become, I think, accustomed to not being questioned," he added.

The most infamous of Cronje's dealings with bookmakers came during the rain-affected fifth Test between South Africa and England at Centurion Park in early 2000.

With the Proteas recommencing their first innings on the fifth day Cronje - prompted by a bookie named Marlon Aronstam - contrived an unprecedented innings forfeiture for both sides to ensure a result.

England captain Nasser Hussain later compared his agreement with Cronje over what target his side would chase to the haggle scene in Monty Python's Life of Brian - Cronje immediately accepted the figure Hussain asked for.

Cronje's innovative action to create a result on what otherwise would have been a dead final day of a Test largely drew praise, even if did not quite sit right with everyone.

"After the initial celebrations I realised I did not experience the usual euphoria that would follow a Test win," said Butcher.

"Almost instantly I knew why - it didn't feel we'd earned it."

Michael Holding, covering the match for Sky Sports, received "tons of phone calls and letters" over something he said on air during a commentary stint, having smelt a rat.

"I said if this game was being played on the Indian subcontinent, people would start talking about bookmakers," Holding said.

"I just knew something was going on and that was my total focus. I was basically disgusted at what I was watching."

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