Cronje: 'twixt the devil and the UCB

Hansie Cronje's attorney, Clem Druker, said the pressures on his client "would be enough to destroy a weaker man". Cronje had been subjected to "vituperation, indignity and harshness".

Druker said the King commission was not a trial and Cronje was not in a position of somebody who was accused.

On that basis, he said, Cronje would like to hear the complaints and allegations against him before compiling his response.

"We are caught betwixt and between," said Druker. "And we are feeling our way." He said as far as finding precedents for the investigation into Cronje's actions, the Qayyum report in Pakistan was "an obvious one", but also suggested that the Australian cricket board case of 1994 be included.

In seeking precedents for the investigation into Cronje's actions, the Qayyum report in Pakistan was "an obvious one", but he also suggested the Australian cricket tour of Pakistan in 1994 be included.

In 1994, test players Shane Warne and Mark Waugh accepted money from a bookmaker for "forecasting". The two men were fined by the Australian Cricket Board at a secret hearing and the incident only became common knowledge two years ago.

"What happened in 1994 has an echo of what's happening here," Druker said. "Waugh and Warne were not banned from the game."

The King Commission, which has sent out about 45 summons to witnesses, is expected to move into its quarters at the Centre of the Book (the old Archives) in Queen Victoria Street today.

The commission has already been described by one lawyer as "South Africa's OJ Trial" because of the intense media interest in the hearings. A media circus is expected to descend on the centre on Wednesday when the first witness is called.

This witness could be a senior umpire or match referee who would outline the sport's arcane areas, although the judge is a self-confessed "cricket nut" and the lawyer leading evidence, Shamila Batohi, has been quoted as saying she knows "more than most men about the game".

Scrutiny from the Asian subcontinent is expected to be intense. Because of charges against Cronje and other South African players by Indian police, the inquiry has great resonance there.