When it is pointed out that Hansie Cronje’s birthday is coming up in around a month, Jonty Rhodes clarifies, “September 25th, to be exact”.
Despite the tainted legacy that Cronje left behind, Rhodes does not hesitate to say that he deeply misses his old friend. In 2002, Cronje died in a plane crash at the age of 32, a couple of years after he was banned for life for his role in the match-fixing scandal.
‘Vey sad’
The death of his mate left a “huge void” in Rhodes’ life. “His death was very, very sad. My wife and I were close to Hansie and his wife (Bertha). When we arrived at the Cronje house, they had just recovered his body from the crash site. It was horrible.
“For many people, when they lose a friend, life goes on after a period of mourning. But for us, it was impossible to just move on,” Rhodes, the advisor for online fantasy sports platform StarPick , said here on Tuesday.
The 49-year-old recalled his first meeting with Cronje. “As a kid, I suffered from epilepsy, which meant that I was the only kid to wear a helmet on the cricket field. Hansie’s father (Ewie) believed that I was a good player, so he told Hansie to ‘go and watch the kid with a white helmet’.
After the match, Hansie didn’t speak to me, he just shook my hand. Hansie always joked that it was easy to spot me because of the helmet,” Rhodes said.
Outstanding leader
Cronje was outstanding as a leader, Rhodes said, “Hansie was earmarked to be the South Africa skipper when he was just 18. Way back in 1987, the convener of the Selection Committee told me that one day, if and when South Africa re-enters international cricket, Hansie will be the captain of the national team. Hansie understood man-management and people skills way before these aspects became the norm.”
It pains Rhodes a great deal that Cronje never got a chance at redemption.
“If Hansie was still with us, he could have had a positive role to play in the world of cricket.
“The ICC or Cricket South Africa could have utilised him as someone who can speak out and say, ‘Hey guys, there are ways to make easy money, but don’t do it, because the consequences are severe.’
“He could have even worked with the ICC Anti-Corruption Unit. When someone with deep life experience tells you something, it resonates strongly.
“Hansie himself was keen to take an evangelical approach to preach about playing cricket the right way,” Rhodes said. “But that aeroplane crash robbed Hansie of the chance to redeem himself.”
