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Cronje's June 22 testimony

MR CRONJE: That is correct.

MS BATOHI: Did you continue this association with him from 1996 through to earlier this year?

MR CRONJE: That is hundred percent correct, I never spoke to him other than on my tours to India.

MS BATOHI: What were these conversations about?

MR CRONJE: It was about what blokes normally would talk about, it was cricket, it was politics, it was television and it was whatever blokes talk about normally.

MS BATOHI: So he had become a friend of yours, is that correct?

MR CRONJE: Yes, he took me out for dinner once in 1996 and once in 2000, yes.

MS BATOHI: And the first time that you met him he asked you whether you were interested in fixing matches, is that correct?

MR CRONJE: After a few drinks he said to me if ever I have the willingness to help him with giving him information, he would be willing to give it to me, yes. He would be willing to help, if I was willing to help him, he would be willing to assist.

MS BATOHI: And during that five year period, four year period that you knew him, apart from that one approach, didn't he make any other attempts to do business with you so to speak?

MR CRONJE: No, not at all, I think he got the impression that I wasn't really going to be helpful and also the only other time that he spoke to me was in Dubai about information that I think would have been handy for him if he wanted to make a bet on a game. Once again I want to try and put it to you as best I can, Ms Batohi, that Sunil never actually gave me any money or offered me any money or asked me to influence any other players.

COMMISSIONER: Did you during this period, now after your first meeting or second meeting with him, when you were speaking to each other on the phone, did you give him any sort of information that might have been useful to him, forgetting about the question of whether you were paid to do it or not? Did you give him information, forecasting that might have been useful to him?

MR CRONJE: No.

MS BATOHI: In your statement paragraph 44 says that you know, you thought that you could satisfy Sanjay by just forecasting outcomes accurately and he wasn't satisfied with that, and pressured you to speak to some of the other players. Did you at any stage tell him "look, I am sorry, I can't get the other players involved, this is the best I can do"?

MR CRONJE: I told him in the Mumbai game once that none of the players were involved, and then after insisting and pushing me I told him that I had three or four players on my side, yes, lying to him.

MS BATOHI: Is that what appears in the transcripts that have been released, is that the conversation that you are talking about?

MR CRONJE: Ma'am, this is very difficult for me to tell you anything that is in the transcripts, because I have only seen snippets of them and whether those tapes are in fact true, or transcripts of tapes, I can tell you that I had conversations with Sanjay, I had conversations with Hamied, I had conversations with Sunil, but what appears on the transcripts, I am not hundred percent sure as I wouldn't know what hundred percent the conversations were.

MS BATOHI: What is in the transcripts, why can't you tell whether it is true or not?

MR CRONJE: What transcripts are those?

MS BATOHI: The ones that have been released, Mr Cronjé, we know what we are talking about, the ones that have been released, why cannot you tell whether ... (intervention)

MR WALLACE: With respect Mr Commissioner, the witness asked which transcripts are you talking about. If my learned friend would care to identify them, then perhaps we will know what she is talking about. There have been all sorts of variations on the theme of transcripts, I don't know what she is talking about and with respect, I think it is a perfectly proper question for the witness to say "please tell me what you are talking about", let's look at the document and we will know what is going on.

COMMISSIONER: Specify the transcript please Ms Batohi.

MS BATOHI: As it pleases you Mr Commissioner. You see we will get to that in a minute Mr Cronjé. What I find a bit odd about this reply of yours is that when you spoke to Mr Rory Steyn at the very outset, do you remember that night?

MR CRONJE: It was a morning, yes.

MS BATOHI: Early hours of the morning. There was, I am not sure, but it may well have been one transcript or two released by then, is that correct?

MR CRONJE: I was shoved a piece of paper in front of my nose by Mr Clifford Green and Mrs Bronwyn Wilkinson-Luck, yes.

MS BATOHI: You told Mr Steyn and he testified to this, that what was in the transcripts, were true, do you remember that?

MR CRONJE: As far as my recollection is, that is not what I told Mr Steyn. I told Mr Steyn, that is my voice that was on the tapes.

MS BATOHI: I am just going to read from the testimony of Mr Steyn which appears on page 197 of the record. He states - "On handing me that statement (that is the letter that you originally wrote) he (meaning you) said something to the effect of 'you must have guessed, but I haven't been totally honest and some of what is being reported in the media, is true and I have made a statement, I would like to come clean", what were you referring to at that stage?

MR CRONJE: There were reports in the media that I had influenced the result of the five One-day games in India and I said to Mr Steyn that I am the person that they are talking about, but what is not there is that I was lying to Sanjay all along. I did not say that what is said on the transcript is absolutely correct, I never said that.

MS BATOHI: Maybe we can look at that later and see what you dispute in those transcripts and what you agree to.

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