When the Cronje affair broke many wondered how high the rot had gone and whether Cronje had really been the sole sinner. Dr Bacher quickly issued a statement saying how horrified he was and that this was the first time he had ever heard about attempted match-fixing. "Bob was livid," says Noakes. "He was always careful to send in a full report of any tour he managed and he had certainly reported in full on how upset he'd been about Cronje and the match-fixing incident. So he went tearing off to Wanderers to check the archives for that report. And of course, that report alone was missing." When Cronje confessed, the prosecution wanted further details about exactly which matches had been affected. Cronje's lawyers said enough was enough: he had confessed. When the prosecution insisted, Cronje's lawyers said that if he was forced to testify further he would implicate people mucher higher up in the game. The prosecution immediately desisted. There are many in South African cricket who do not believe Cronje's death in a flying accident soon after was an accident at all, and nor do they believe that Woolmer's subsequent death in the West Indies was accidental either. All manner of allegations have been made, involving bookmakers and corrupt officials.

No one doubts that the money washing round the game was the key to the Majola affair, which centred on illegal bonuses Majola and others had awarded themselves after helping the Indian Premier League arrange its Twenty20 games in South Africa. But the very fact of this money makes the plight of the older cricketing generation harder to bear. Men like Ray White feel strongly that the game ought to look after its own and that those good enough to represent their country in any era should qualify. But the problem is that in South Africa the sport has not only changed professionally, commercially and in the amount of one-day cricket played. The cricketers themselves have kept up with those changes. But in South Africa the game has also changed, racially and politically. There has been much naiveté, greed and cynicism. Neither side in these changes has covered itself with glory.