Jonty Rhodes feels life didn't give Hansie Cronje a chance to redeem himself

Former South Africa captain Hansie Cronje was the first cricketer to admit about being involved in the match-fixing scandal in the late 1990s. His revelation left everyone stunned and also made him the villain in the cricketing world. However, unfortunately, he passed away soon in an air crash and he remained in the memories of the fans as a fixer which Jonty Rhodes feels is not correct.

Cronje left the tainted legacy behind but Rhodes doesn’t hesitate at all to accept that he still misses his old friend. Only a couple of years after he was banned for life, Cronje, 32, was travelling in the plane which crashed and left a huge void in the lives of 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,” he was quoted as saying by Sportstar.

He could’ve played a role with ICC

Jonty Rhodes was disappointed that his dear friend didn’t get a good shot a redemption ever. He felt that Hansie Cronje could’ve worked with the ICC or Cricket South Africa (CSA) as a part of their anti-corruption and tried to resurrect the mistake he committed during his playing career.

“If Hansie was still with us, he could have had a positive role to play in the world of cricket. The ICC or CricketSouth 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. But that aeroplane crash robbed Hansie of the chance to redeem himself,” Rhodes added.

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