Film director Frans Cronje remembers brother Hansie on his 14th death anniversary

Bengaluru, June 1: Frans Cronje, a film director and elder brother to Hansie Cronje, the late South African cricket captain, remembered the latter on Wednesday on the occasion of his 14th death anniversary.

Hansie or Wessel Johannes Cronje, a remarkable captain who was disgraced in a match-fixing scandal in 2000 and was banned from the game, was killed in an plane crash near his home in South Africa's Western Cape province on June 1, 2002.

The former cricketer, who was 32 then, was one among the three persons who died in the crash. He had taken a lift in the aircraft which met a tragic fate in bad weather into the Outeniqua Mountains in the south. Consipracy theories behind the crash were also not ruled out.

In a post on Facebook, 49-year-old Frans said: "And so another year has come and gone. Today, 14 years ago my brother, Hansie died in a plane crash. Feels like yesterday. We still miss you a lot Hansie....
Thank you so much to all our friends who continued to send messages of support through it all. You are amazing!!!"

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The entire cricketing world was left shocked by what was cricket's major controversy in the post-War era after Cronje, who was the third captain for South Africa after it returned to international cricket in 1991, had admitted that he had taken bribes for fixing matches. After he was handed a life ban by the South African cricket board in 2000, the International Cricket Council also endorsed the decision.

Several of Cronje's team mates had also confessed later that the former had offered them a share of the bookies' bribes to lose an one-day international match against India. Cronje had vowed to stay in his country and make up for his mistake but his legal bid failed to overturn the ban. He later worked as a financial manager.

Bob Woolmer, the late coach of South Africa whose teaming with Cronje had given the African side many a memorable victories, had stood by him like many others.

Woolmer himself was found dead in a hotel in the West Indies during the 2007 World Cup in which he was the coach of Pakistan team.

Oneindia News