rediff.com: Gibbs declares his innocence

South African opening batsman Herschelle Gibbs has broken his silence and denied any part in match-rigging or spread-betting allegations involving disgraced South African cricket captain Hansie Cronje.

Gibbs told Saturday's Cape Argus newspaper he was stunned when he was implicated in the Indian betting scandal: "I felt bad, but I knew I was innocent. Nothing would ever make me do something so irresponsible.

"I think somebody who would become involved in anything like this would have let their country down, and themselves and the team, and it is terribly unprofessional."

Cronje is accused by Indian police of having accepted money from a London-based Indian bookie who allegedly has links to a betting syndicate.

The other South African players implicated by police in India are Gibbs, Pieter Strydom and Nicky Boje.

The South African government is in the process of setting up a commission of inquiry, headed by a judge, to investigate the allegations and prepare a report for the International Cricket Council.

"Nobody approached us," Gibbs said. "When we were told about it, we were terribly shocked."

The batsman was implicated by transcripts of alleged conversations between Cronje and London-based bookmaker Sanjiv, alias Sanjay, Chawla.

In a taped cellphone conversation that Indian police say took place on March 14 when the team was in New Delhi before the one-day international against India in Faridabad the next day, Cronje is alleged to have said Boje was "playing", as was Gibbs.

In the transcript, Chawla then asks: "And how many runs for Gibbs?" To which Cronje responds: "Less than 20." The next day, Gibbs scored 19.

After the scandal broke, Gibbs came under the media spotlight for his performance at the match in Faridabad, when it was expected that the spread on his runs scored in the game would probably have been from 35 to 40.

In spread-betting, anybody who had bet on him and gone "low" would have cashed in. The punter would have been about 16 units (or runs) to the good and would have won 16 times whatever he bet per unit.

But Gibbs said: "There is simply no guarantee you are going to score more than five runs every innings you play. Anybody with insight into the game would know that. It doesn't bother me what people say."

"He is a great man and one of the greatest captains who has ever played the game. I've known him for a good few years and I've still got the utmost respect for him. He will always be a great friend of mine."

Cronje this week admitted he had supplied information to a bookie, but denied he had been involved in match-fixing. He issued a statement exonerating his teammates of any involvement in the scandal. While giving few details and referring to the "awful predicament" in which he found himself, Cronje said speculation and criticism directed against other members of the team were "wrong and unjustified."

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