South African tour of Australia could have been scrapped

South African tour of Australia could have been scrapped
MARTIN PARRY

BRISBANE, AUGUST 11: Next week's tour of Australia by South Africa may have been scrapped had Hansie Cronje's corruption been exposed sooner, Australian Cricket Board boss Malcolm Speed admitted Friday. "With the benefit of hindsight, if we'd known all this was going to happen (with Cronje) we may not have scheduled the matches at (Melbourne's) Colonial Stadium," said Speed.

"But tickets are selling well, South Africa arrive tomorrow (Saturday) and Australia is training in Brisbane and are very keen to play this series."

Speed said despite the threat of the Cronje case blowing up again when the commission's findings are made public, the one-day series could be a "blessing in disguise" for cricket. "Maybe this will take the focus off the negative things and get cricket back onto the field where the focus should be," he said.

Speed was uncertain as to what the commission would conclude, apart from some "damning findings" about Cronje and comments about other players in the South African team. "The things is to get it all out in the open," he said. "I don't think there'll be any negative ramifications for Australia from the King inquiry. It's part of the process of cleaning out world cricket and we (the ACB) welcome an aggressive inquiry in South Africa." (AFP)