In a strange turn of events, there has been disturbing news for cricket. Although one is personal, the other one raises many suspicions.
South African bowler, Andre Nel, found himself exposed for his adulterous ways by his lover from England, Jelena Kultiasova. While Nel’s wife, Deanne Weitz, suggested she was aware of the digression of her husband and that peace had been sought, apparently Nel did try to commit suicide after his lover carried the story to the newspaper. But that is not where the sordid details end as more women are coming out about Nel’s philandering ways, although the truth or otherwise is yet to be established.
Fidelity factor is becoming increasingly exposed. Call it the additional glare of the media spotlight but the philandering ways of cricketers are not a new phenomenon but that is increasingly coming out in the open because of the manner in which the media has been shaped in the years gone by. There may be competition for Tiger Woods and the England footballers after all!
What is also disturbing is the supposed suicide of Croydon Athletic chairman, David Le Cluse. Why an unknown football club has made it to cricket’s page may seem strange but Croydon Athletic happens to be owned by Mazhar Majeed, the same Pakistan player agent who acted as bookie for the benefit of the undercover journalist from News of the World. Apparently David, a much married man, shared a personal equation with Majeed to the extent that he felt disturbed by the revelations of spot fixing and match fixing that came out in the course of the England Pakistan series.
Whether David’s death is a result of suspicious activity or purely out of being disturbed by recent events is yet to be established. But that another death has been linked to match fixing is most perturbing. During the course of the allegations, once again the likes of Clive Rice raised the issue of the deaths of Hansie Cronje, the former South African captain who confessed to his sins, and also, Bob Woolmer, who died under mysterious circumstances while serving as the coach of the Pakistan team that had just been dumped out of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 in the Caribbean. Cronje’s death in a plane crash was equally shrouded in mystery with many suggesting a conspiracy that neither death was by natural circumstances but as a result of the match fixing saga that disturbed the entire cricket fraternity, not to mention ruffle the feathers of a few notorious bookmakers gangs with links to the underworld.
©Sreelata S. Yellamrazu for ©www.mindspacecricket.com
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