Sport’s Strangest Crimes: Hansie Cronje – Fall from Grace is the latest gripping six-part podcast from BBC Radio 5 Live, delving into one of the biggest sporting scandals of the modern era.
Hosted by former England cricketer Mark Butcher, this series retraces the rise and fall of Hansie Cronje – from his glory days on the pitch to the secret deals, damning confessions, and an untimely death that left more questions than answers.
The series begins with the now-infamous Centurion Test match – a rain-ruined draw suddenly brought back to life by a puzzling decision from Cronje. What looked like bold sportsmanship was later exposed as something far more sinister when a wiretap in India revealed damning evidence of match-fixing.
Mark guides listeners through the story’s many twists: offshore accounts, secret phone calls, shady bookmakers, and a shocking televised inquiry. As the pressure mounts for a deeper investigation, Cronje is killed in a mysterious plane crash, officially blamed on pilot error, but still debated to this day.
With testimony from former teammates, journalists, investigators, and those closest to the case, Mark uncovers a dark world of manipulation, power and money – and the real cost of betrayal in sport.
Speaking about the podcast, Mark, said: “I played in that Centurion Test, and none of us knew what was really going on. Hansie’s story is both tragic and infuriating, and there’s still a lot we don’t understand. This series is about going back and asking the difficult questions. Who was the real Hansie Cronje? And how deep did this all go?”
The series revisits a scandal that rocked international cricket and left an indelible mark on the game. Over two decades later, the echoes of Cronje’s downfall still resonate.
The entire series of Sport’s Strangest Crimes: Hansie Cronje – Fall From Grace will be available on BBC Sounds from Wednesday 30 July 2025
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