SA players dedicate World Cup to Cronje

Former South Africa captain Cronje, who died in a plane crash in June, was banned for life for his prominent role in the match-fixing scandal.

Cronje admitted to accepting $130,000 in bribes from bookmakers to influence international matches.

However, the more positive aspects of Cronje's life and career were uppermost in the thoughts of his erstwhile team mates at the World Cup squad's training camp in the Drakensberg mountains, newspapers in the Independent Group reported.

"For me this World Cup is going to be extra special and there's an extra special person I'd like to dedicate it to," Jonty Rhodes was quoted as saying.

"Asked directly if the person he was referring to was Cronje, Rhodes simply nodded," the papers reported. "Sitting alongside him, Allan Donald nodded in agreement."

Herschelle Gibbs, who was also banned for six months for his involvement in match-fixing, made a similar pledge.

"It (the World Cup) will be a lovely end to the careers of Allan (Donald), Jonty (Rhodes) and Gary (Kirsten), and bearing one other person in mind," Gibbs was quoted as saying.

But not everyone was in agreement.

"Nobody has the right to dedicate the World Cup to one person," United Cricket Board president Percy Sonn told reporters on Wednesday. "It goes beyond one person."

He added: "If players want to dedicate it in their hearts to someone then it is in their personal capacity."

World Cup executive director Ali Bacher said this week the World Cup, which starts in Cape Town on February 8, could not be dedicated to Cronje as it is an international event and not focused on South African interests.