Woolmer does not believe Cronje's hand in match-fixing

London, Mar 21 (UNI) India-born Englishman Bob Woolmer believes that former South captain Hansie Cronje was not involved in the match-fixing scandal that rocked cricketing world seven years ago.

In an article for The Times newspaper yesterday, his British author-friend Ivo Tennant attributed the late coach as saying, ''I know I am not alone when I believe that he did not fix a match during his international career. I believe, along with many close to him, that he told the truth in front of the King commission. He was a man who loved to win, who appreciated winning, who accepted defeat as graciously as any other in the game.'' Tennant and Woolmer had begun work on a sequel to the late coachs' autobiography that would take in his coaching stints of South Africa, Warwickshire for a second spell and Pakistan.

''At the time the revelations surfaced about Hansie Cronje, my views were no different to anybody else's, but it was Hansie who said to me, 'Coach, never let me take a second-rate South African side on to the field as I want to win every game,'' the 'gizmo' freak coach said.

As the story unfolded, Woolmer became clear that there could be no smoke without fire but his conscience was still not in a mood to believe that an astute, hard and fair captain like Cronje can be guilty.

Tennant wrote Woolmer was of the feeling that those who stood by Cronje were treated as traitors to the game and in this connection he cited an example of witer and broadcaster Michael Parkinson who once wrote an article about the 'laptop' man's posibillity of coaching English cricket team, ''Thank God that Woolmer did not take the England coaching job, we certainly do not want his type advising English cricket.'' The 58-year-old former coach who came to limelight during his stint with the South African side in the early nineties was also averse to the fact that after the match fixing saga, Cronje was treated as an object of hatred and ridicule.

''I have always maintained that I was terribly disappointed with Hansie but was not prepared to let several years of intense personal involvement with him just end over disappointment. I certainly did not agree with what he did, but to make him the object of hatred and ridicule was over the top,'' Tennant attributed Woolmer having told him.

He further mantained that the former captain's vilification has been far worse than a rapist or a murderer and said, ''Can they not remember him as a man who gave so much for his country, both on and off the field, during his playing days?.'' UNI