Hansie Cronje was a South African cricket player who played on the international stage. From 1994 to 2000, he was the captain of the national team. In 53 test matches, the team won 23 of them while he was in charge. In 2004, two years after he had died, he was named the 11th best South African ever, even though he had been banned from playing cricket because he was involved in a scandal that involved fixing matches. Cronje grew up in Bloemfontein with his two siblings. He became a well-rounded athlete in school, where he led his cricket and rugby teams as captain. Because of how good he was at sports, he played rugby and cricket for the Orange Free State Province at the time. Cronje started his first-class career after getting his Bachelor of Commerce degree. He played his first game for Orange Free State against Transvaal in 1988 in Johannesburg. In 1992, he played his first match for his country against Australia in a One-Day International World Cup match. The talented cricketer’s career ended in 2000 when he was banned from playing for life because he was involved in a scandal involving fixing matches. In 2002, he was only 32 years old when he died in a plane crash.
Early years and childhood
Hansie Cronje was born on September 25, 1969, as Wessel Johannes Cronje in Bloemfontein, Free State, South Africa. His parents, both cricket players, were San-Marie Cronje and Ewie Cronje. He had a brother named Frans and a sister named Hester Parsons. He got out of Grey College in 1987. He was the captain of his cricket and rugby teams in school, and he also played for what was then called the Orange Free State Province. Later, Cronje went to the University of the Free State and got his Bachelor of Commerce degree there.
A First-Class Job
Hansie Cronje played his first first-class game for Orange Free State against Transvaal at the beginning of 1988. The season after that, he played in all eight Currie Cup games. In 1990-91, he was named captain of Orange Free State, and in December of that year, he hit his first century, which was against Natal. At the end of the season, he had 715 runs at a rate of 39.72. In 1995, he played for Leicestershire. At the end of the season, he had 1301 runs and a batting average of 52.04. During the 1995–1996 season, he was in great shape and helped Free State win the Currie Cup league by beating Northern Transvaal. Cronje then played for Ireland in the Benson and Hedges Cup as an international player. His score of 94 not out helped Ireland beat Middlesex by 46 runs.
Working in other countries
Hansie Cronje’s international cricket career began in 1992. He played his first one-day international match against Australia in a World Cup match. He had an average of 34.00 during the tournament. His team went on a tour of the West Indies after the World Cup. He played in all three ODIs and the test match that came after them. During the 1992–93 season, his team played a one-day international series against India. In the first game, he hit six runs on only four balls, which was very important. In the end, he was named “Man of the Match.” The international cricketer then took five wickets in an ODI, becoming the second South African to do so. He was the team’s vice-captain when they went to Australia in 1993–1994. Cronje helped South Africa beat Australia in the first ODI of the triangular tournament between South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. In the end, his team lost the series to Australia. In October 1994, South Africa took part in another triangular ODI series with Pakistan and Australia. Cronje scored 354 runs during the series, but his team still lost all of the games. Early in 1995, his team beat both New Zealand and Pakistan in one-off tests in Auckland. Cronje scored the only century of the match, which was against New Zealand. In the 1996 World Cup, he got 45 runs against Pakistan and 78 runs against New Zealand. The West Indies beat South Africa in the quarterfinal match. At the start of the 1997–98 season, Cronje led his team to their first series win in Pakistan. In the third test, he made a big difference by getting Moin Khan and Inzamam-ul-Haq out. During the 1998 test series against England, he made fifty runs in each game. During the second innings of his 50th test, he went over 3,000 runs and became only the second South African player to do so. Even though England won the test, he finished the series with 401 runs, the most of any player.Cronje then led his team to a 5-0 win over the West Indies in a five-match test series in 1998–99. This was the only time his team had ever done this. In the next ODI series, he scored the most runs and took 11 wickets, which helped South Africa win 6–1. In a match against Zimbabwe in October 1999, he scored the most test runs for his country. Cronje played his last game on March 31, 2000. It was the final of the Sharjah Cup, which was played against Pakistan.
The Scandal of Match-Fixing
During their tour of India in 2000, the South African cricket team led by Hansie Cronje was accused of fixing matches. After the King Commission asked him about it, Cronje admitted that he was involved in the scandal. In the end, he was told he could never play cricket again. In September 2001, he tried to get around his lifetime ban, but his request was turned down. The Indian Police finally filed the charge sheet for the case on July 22, 2013, 13 years after the first claims were made.
Family and other things
Hansie Cronje married Bertha Hans on April 8, 1995. The couple stayed together until he died. They had no kids.
On June 1, 2002, while flying from Johannesburg to George in a Hawker Siddeley HS 748 turboprop aircraft, the cricketer died in a plane crash.
