Cricket's 'end of innocence': Cronje's Centurion fix, 20 years on

As England's batsmen carefully negotiated the opening day of the third Test in Port Elizabeth on Thursday, many people in the cricket world were casting their minds back 20 years to another Test in South Africa.

The fifth Test at Centurion in 2000, which ended on January 18 with an exciting narrow England win, was celebrated at the time for its wonderful spirit before the shroud of match-fixing was lifted to reveal a cancer of corruption at the heart of the game.

"It was false, it was fake," Mark Butcher, who opened the batting for England in that game, told TalkSport.

It was a Test that marked the beginning of the end for Hansie Cronje, the South African captain, whose new leather jacket -- a reward from his bookmaker friend Marlon Arenstam for fixing the outcome of the Test -- became for a while the most famous in world sport.

"I saw it at the time as a terrific victory for England," said Darren Gough who hit the winning runs.

"If you ask anyone who played in that game or was there to watch they will say they were thoroughly entertained, a belter to play in. Just tainted."
- Double forfeit -
==================
"I said to Alec - 'no, tell Hansie this isn't county cricket, it's a Test match'. Also we were 2-0 down and I didn't want to go 3-0 down!"
"When we went out there it wasn't a spicey pitch so I thought, well, we can chase on here."
- 'End of innocence' -
======================
"There was so much money on the draw, he was told to get a result."
"The problem is the unfortunate love I have for money. I do like money. I'm not going to try to get away from that."
"I think the vast majority of international cricket we see now is clean."