Saving Cricket's Soul

He was seen as one of cricket's most respected sons: captain of South Africa, God-fearing and charming. Then Hansie Cronje's dirty secret was exposed: for years he'd been making clandestine deals with bookmakers. At first he denied all. But as the evidence mounted he confessed, blaming the devil and his own "unfortunate love of money." Last June, in Cape Town, he wept on the stand at the King Commission of Inquiry into match-fixing. Months later, he was kicked out of cricket for life.

Cronje admitted pocketing about $100,000 from bookmakers in return for insider information on his team, promises to under-perform and...