On the surface, sport players can look like angels. They are harmless and are doing what they love and are earning well. However, fans and the public alike can't tell what happens behind closed doors. On most occasions, scandals occur. There are two cricketers who epitomised this: Saleem Malik and Hansie Cronje.
In 1994, Australia toured Pakistan in the hope of a Test win that had evaded them; spanning 14 Tests, 35 years and counting. Their quest was halted by Pakistan captain, Saleem Malik.
The 1st Test was won by Pakistan. Malik didn't have a real impact (70 runs and no wickets). A last wicket stand of 55 by future Pakistan captain, Inzamam-ul-Haq (58*) and Mushtaq Ahmed (20*) assured the hosts a victory.
Malik saved the day for Pakistan in the 2nd Test. Australia, who batted first, amassed 521-9 declared. Contributions were made by: Mark Taylor (69); Michael Slater (110); Mark Waugh (68); Michael Bevan (70); Steve Waugh (98) and Ian Healy (58). Malik scored 33 in Pakistan's first innings total of 260.
Australia enforced the follow-on and with the assistance of Malik, who scored 237, avoided an innings' defeat. The match ended in a draw.
Australia went into the last day of the third Test against Pakistan in Lahore poised for a series-levelling victory (Pakistan were just 55 runs ahead with five second-innings wickets left); only to be denied again by their bête noire - Saleem Malik.
Fresh from a match-saving 237 in the second Test and an alleged attempt to bribe Shane Warne and Tim May, Malik made an imperious 143, putting on 196 for the sixth wicket with Aamer Sohail, to send the Australians into increasing apoplexy.
The Wisden Almanack said that "Australia won everywhere but on the scoreboard" but that's where it matters and their wait for a Test win in Pakistan went on until 1998-99.
His reputation was irrevocably tarnished when he became the first person to be banned for life for match-fixing - though the ban was lifted after eight years, in 2008. In his day, Malik was a wonderful, wristy batter. He made 15 Test hundreds, although oddly, seven of them were between 100 and 102.
His finest hour with the bat came in 1994-95 - ironically, the series in which he was first accused of match-fixing - when he made two majestic centuries (one of them a double) to deny Australia victory in Rawalpindi and Lahore and give Pakistan a fraught series win.
The report, the result of a two-year judicial investigation by Justice Malik Mohammad Qayyum and released by the Pakistan Cricket Board in Rawalpindi, recommended that eight players be penalised. It also suggested that Ata-ur-Rehman be banned for life after finding him guilty of match-fixing and perjury and proposes fines for six other players: Mushtaq Ahmed, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Saeed Anwar, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Akram Raza.
In Australia, thereas a sense of relief that the commission decided the evidence given by two of their players, Shane Warne and Mark Waugh, was key in proving the charges against Malik - even though they had admitted taking money from bookmakers.
Throughout the international game that night; there was satisfaction that a culprit has been exposed and a name blackened. Cricket, its genteel image forever destroyed, badly needed a victim. International cricket will believe that the Qayyum Report has delivered a guilty verdict against a man whose corruption is now beyond doubt.
Malik again professed his innocence and said he was being victimised by the PCB. "I will swear any oath, to God, that I am innocent. My hands are clean," he said, adding that his lawyers will appeal within two days.
For some, uncertainty still persists. The commission found the evidence against Wasim Akram wasn't strong enough to justify a ban but Judge Qayyum held that allegations against him rendered him, "too sullied" to captain Pakistan again. According to the commission, Wasim, due to take up a commentating role with Channel 4 for the West Indies series; survives only because a testimony against him by Ata-ur-Rehman, "could not be believed with any degree of certainty."
The sheer weight of evidence in the Qayyum Report, and the fact that the PCB, after much soul-searching, dared to release it; strengthens its position at the following month's International Cricket Council meeting: the board has sought to put its house in order.
The recommendation that Malik is banned for life might be an irrelevance since he retired from international cricket after the 1999 World Cup in England. A proposed fine of $18 500 would prove more painful, as would the conclusion that he should be banned from holding any further office in Pakistani cricket.
That so many matches could be the subject of suspicion and so many leading Pakistani players have been caught up in the web of deceit will deeply shock as the report is digested.
The much-leaked judicial investigation might've contained few surprises. The detail provided into the greatest scandal in cricket's history made it compelling reading. The commission concluded that Warne truthfully accused Malik of trying to bribe him and others to throw the 1994 Test between Pakistan and Australia in Karachi and the subsequent one-day match in Rawalpindi.
It decided that the Australians' admission that they had accepted bookmakers' money previously for "information" in Sri Lanka didn't damage their credibility.
For Malik, there is total condemnation. The report concluded: "There have been a lot of general allegations against Malik. Everyone seems to name him as the main culprit in match-fixing. Imran Khan, Javed Miandad, his own coaches, managers and fellow players."
Most crucial was the testimony of his own vice-captain, Rashid Latif, whose reputation as a whistle-blower on a cancer destroying the game will be enhanced.
The extent of Malik's involvement in match-fixing is breathtaking. The commission accepted testimonies from Intikhab Alam and Saeed Anwar that he was involved in the throwing of a one-day international against New Zealand on the 1993/94 tour.
Latif stated that before the Christchurch one-day international Malik, who was Pakistani captain, summoned him to his hotel room and offered him $18 500 (£11 500) to play badly.
Malik returned home early from Pakistan's tour to Sri Lanka the following year, when it was alleged that he met bookmakers looking to fix the Singer Cup series also involving India, Sri Lanka and Australia.
The bookmaker, Saleem Pervez, further stated that he paid Malik (and his team-mate Mushtaq Ahmed) $100 000 (£67 600) to throw the Pakistan vs. Australia game in that competition.
Judge Qayyum concluded: "The statement of Saleem Pervez has a lot of weight. It is, no doubt, true and admitted by Saleem Pervez that he has some criminal record and that he had even been involved in a murder case but that does not mean that the man is lying."
The Test that 'made' Hansie Cronje, at least to me, was the Centurion Test against England in 2000.
The Centurion match-fixing case refers to the controversial 5th and final Test match between South Africa and England at Centurion Park in January 2000; which later unraveled into the biggest match-fixing scandal in cricket history.
After four days of heavy rain nearly ruined the match, South African captain Hansie Cronje approached England captain Nasser Hussain with an unprecedented proposal: South Africa would declare their first innings closed and England would forfeit their first innings. South Africa would then forfeit their second innings; setting England a target of roughly 250 runs in 75 overs on the final day.
England chased down the target and won the match. At the time, the move was widely praised by the media and fans as an inventive, sporting gesture to rescue a dead Test match from a boring draw.
Three months later, in April 2000, Delhi Police announced they had wiretaps implicating Hansie Cronje in a match-fixing ring with bookmakers (including Mukesh Gupta and Sanjay Chawla).
It was exposed that the "sporting forfeit" wasn't about saving the game - Cronje had accepted money (and a leather jacket) from bookmakers to artificially manufacture a result/win-loss scenario so syndicates could profit from a live-action outcome. Cronje even attempted to place a bet on the match.
Cronje initially denied the claims, then confessed to the King Commission of Inquiry. The United Cricket Board of South Africa (UCBSA) imposed a lifetime ban on Cronje in October 2000.
The timeline of the scandal
The first blow
7 April 2000: Delhi police charge Hansie Cronje with fixing South Africa's ODIs against India in March for money. They also release transcripts of an alleged conversation between Cronje and an Indian businessman, suggested to be a bookie, Sanjay Chawla.
The conversation is about who is playing and who is not, who is in on the "deal," the amount alleged to be paid to Cronje and his team-mates Herschelle Gibbs, Pieter Strydom and Nicky Boje. Cronje denies any involvement in the matter and the South African board, former players and media rally behind him.
Cronje's denial
9 April 2000: South Africa's captain continues to stand his ground, saying at a press conference: "I want to make it 100% clear that I deny ever receiving any sum of money during the one-day international series in India. I want to also make it absolutely clear I have never spoken to any member of the team about throwing a game."
Cronje confesses
11 April 2000: The South African board sacks Cronje after he calls the board's managing director, Ali Bacher, at 03:00 and admits he "had been dishonest" over his activities in India. Cronje acknowledges receiving $10 000 to 15 000 for "providing information and forecast but not match-fixing" during the one-day series in India.
Dodgy Test investigated
12 April 2000: The South African board says the controversial fifth Test between South Africa and England in Centurion in January, during which both sides forfeited an innings at Cronje's suggestion, will be investigated as part of the inquiry into match-fixing allegations.
Indian government steps in
28 April 2000: The Indian government orders the Central Bureau of Investigation to probe the match-fixing allegations and to find out whether any Indian cricketer or official was involved.
The King Commission enquiry
7 June 2000: Former South African cricketer Pat Symcox testifies before the King Commission, which is inquiring into the Cronje scandal, that he had been approached by Cronje about "throwing" a match against Pakistan during the 1994-95 season. He also confirms that during a team meeting in Mumbai in 1996; Cronje had conveyed an offer of $250 000 dollars to lose a one-dayer.
A damning confession
8 June 2000: Herschelle Gibbs effectively seals Cronje's fate, confessing he had accepted an offer from his former captain to make less than 20 runs in a one-day match in India earlier in the year in exchange for $15 000.
More South Africans testify
9 June 2000: Nicky Boje, one of those named in the match-fixing case by the Delhi police, tells the King Commission he was shocked to hear his name linked to the scandal and said Cronje had never approached him with an offer to play badly.
Seam bowler, Henry Williams, testifies that he had been offered $15 000 by Cronje to bowl expensively in a one-day international in India earlier in the year. Pieter Strydom reveals that he had been offered money by Cronje before the first Test against India in Mumbai in February.
Cronje offered immunity
10 June 2000: After three days of damaging revelations during the King Commission hearings; Cronje is offered immunity from criminal prosecution in South Africa if he makes a full disclosure about his role in match-fixing.
Kallis' testimony
13 June 2000: Jacques Kallis corroborates evidence by Mark Boucher and Lance Klusener that Cronje had made an offer to the three players in a hotel room before the second Test against India in Bangalore in March 2000.
Cronje accuses Azhar
15 June 2000: Cronje confesses to taking about $100 000 in bribes from gamblers since 1996 but he claims that he had never thrown or fixed a match. He also announces his retirement from cricket.
Cronje tells the King Commission that former India captain Mohammad Azharuddin had introduced him to a bookie who offered him money to throw a 1996 Test match during South Africa's tour of India. Azharuddin calls the allegation "rubbish."
Cronje breaks down
23 June 2000: Cronje is led away in tears after his three-day cross examination by the King Commission ends in Cape Town. He gives evidence clearly and admits that he accepted money from bookmakers and says his "great passion of the game and for my team-mates'' was matched by "an unfortunate love of money."
Paul Condon heads ICC investigation
26 June 2000: Cronje begs forgiveness for his involvement in illicit gambling deals after the first round of hearings of the King Commission closes.
A former Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Sir Paul Condon, is appointed director of the ICC's anti-corruption investigation
Two South African players banned
28 August 2000: The UCBSA bans Herschelle Gibbs and Henry Williams from international cricket until December 31, 2000, for their role in the match-fixing scandal. Pieter Strydom is acquitted of conspiring to bet on the outcome of the Centurion Test againt England in January.
Life ban for Cronje
11 October 2000: The UCBSA imposes a life ban on Cronje. The ban, which was widely expected, extends to all the UCBSA's related cricket activities as well as that of its affiliates.
Cronje dies
1 June 2002: Cronje dies aged 32 when the light cargo plane in which he was travelling in crashed into mountains near the coastal town of George in bad weather. Four years later, an inquest into his death reveals that the crash was caused due to pilot negligence.
Boje skips India tour
3 November 2004 Nicky Boje pulls out of a two-Test tour of India after being told he might be detained by Indian police over their match-fixing investigations.
Gibbs questioned
12 October 2006: The Delhi police question Herschelle Gibbs for over two hours about the South Africa tour of India in 2000. Gibbs allegedly names Derek Crookes, the former South Africa spinner, as being involved in match-fixing. Crookes denies the allegation, saying he was cleared by the King Commission.
Crookes declares innocence
13 October 2006: Derek Crookes expresses shock at being linked to the fixing allegations after being cleared by the King Commission. Offers to cooperate with the Delhi police.
Boje questioned by Delhi police
11 December 2007: Nicky Boje, playing in India (for the Indian Cricket League) for the first time since 2000, is questioned by Delhi police. He denies any role in match-fixing.
Cronje barred from Hall of Fame
17 March 2008: Cronje will not be posthumously inducted into South Africa's Sports Hall of Fame.
Cronje named in chargesheet
22 July 2013: More than 13 years after the scandal broke, Cronje is the only cricketer named in the chargesheet filed by the Delhi Police relating to the match-fixing case of 2000. The chargesheet includes several bookies.
Unfortunately, not everyone can be a saint. There are things, primarily money, that can sway people away from reality. Corruption can have untold consequences.
It's quite clear that people never learn from other's mistakes.