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BBC Radio 5 Live

Sport's Strangest Crimes

Was Hansie Cronje a villain? A victim? Or something in between? In this final episode, we unpack the legacy Hansie left behind — the loyalties, the doubts, and the stories that still divide opinion. Some say he was trapped by powerful people and trying to find a way out. Others say he knew exactly what he was doing. From emotional moments with close friends to sharp takes from those who saw a darker side, this episode digs into the heart of the scandal and what it says about cricket today.

6. Friend or Foe?

June 2002. Hansie Cronje dies in a plane crash. The reaction is immediate - shock, disbelief, grief. But not everyone buys the official story. In Episode 5, Mark Butcher traces Hansie’s final hours - a missed flight, a last-minute ride on a cargo plane, and a descent through mountain cloud with broken instruments and almost no visibility. Was it pilot error, as the report claimed? Or something more? From talk of missing money and dropped investigations to strange phone calls and long-held theories, this episode explores where the facts end and the doubts begin.

5. The Only Passenger On Board

Hansie’s admitted guilt but the real drama is only just getting started. Episode 4 takes us to the King Commission, a library turned media circus, where cricket’s clean image takes hit after hit. More names come out. More matches are mentioned. And as the pressure builds, the emotion gets raw. And one big question hovers over it all: was this about getting to the truth or just controlling the damage?

4. Not Your Normal Library

The Centurion Test is over. Hansie’s praised for “saving” the match. But rewind 24 hours and the real story starts to unfold. In Episode 3, we go behind the scenes of a game that never should’ve happened - cryptic calls, hotel whispers, and a captain running his own playbook. Then, by pure chance, someone’s listening. And suddenly, Hansie’s house of cards starts to wobble.

3. Brown Envelopes

It’s the final Test of a five-match series, and everyone’s already packed their bags. Three days of rain, no result, nothing to play for. Then out of nowhere, Hansie Cronje makes an offer, and the game is back on. In Episode 2, Mark Butcher takes us inside one of the weirdest days he’s ever seen on a cricket field. At the time, it looked like a stroke of sportsmanship. But in hindsight? Let’s just say not everything is as it seems.

2. England and the Infamous Forfeits

In the mid-90s, Hansie Cronje was South Africa’s golden boy, the God-fearing captain backed by Nelson Mandela and worshipped by a nation. More than just a cricketer, he was a symbol of hope. But were the cracks there all along? 

In the first episode of Sport’s Strangest Crimes - Hansie Cronje: Fall From Grace, former England cricketer, Mark Butcher revisits the rise of a man who seemed too good to be true and maybe was. Teammates, journalists and friends paint a picture of a leader everyone trusted… until they didn’t. Because before you fall from grace, you’ve got to be on a pedestal.

1. Bigger than Becks

Hansie Cronje had it all — captain of South Africa, adored by a nation, trusted by Nelson Mandela. A symbol of hope in the post-apartheid era. 

Then came the Centurion Test: a rain-ruined match is suddenly back on, thanks to a strange decision by Hansie. At first, it looks like good sportsmanship — until a wiretap in India catches something shocking. What unfolds next will change cricket forever. 

In Sport’s Strangest Crimes - Hansie Cronje: Fall From Grace, former England cricketer Mark Butcher traces the rise and collapse of a national hero — from quiet warning signs and secret phone calls to a dramatic confession and a televised inquiry. But even as Hansie admits to more than just Centurion, many believe the investigation didn’t go far enough. 

Sixty-three offshore bank accounts are discovered. Links to other players emerge. And just as pressure builds for a deeper probe — Hansie dies in a plane crash. 

Some say pilot error. Others aren’t so sure. 

Was Hansie manipulated by a powerful network of fixers? Or was he the one pulling the strings? 

With testimony from teammates, journalists, investigators and those who knew him best, Mark unpacks a story of power, money, and the dark side of sport. 

More than two decades on, people are still asking: who was the real Hansie Cronje?

Introducing... Hansie Cronje: Fall From Grace

New coach Conor O’Shea sets about transforming Harlequins’ fortunes and restoring their reputation.

Tom Williams rediscovers his form and helps the club to the Premiership final - the ultimate opportunity for redemption.

Dean Richards returns to rugby with Newcastle and reflects on the Bloodgate episode, while some of the key figures in the series offer opinions on the legacy of the scandal.

Narrator: Ross Kemp
Reporter/Interviewer: Chris Jones
Writer/Producer: Sam Sheringham
Story editor: Tom Fuller
Sound design/production: Jesse Howard
Assistant producers: Metin Yilmaz, Jack Wood, Mujtaba Ali and Victoria Turner
BBC 5 Live Sport podcast editor: Matt Smith
Commissioner: Stevie Middleton

7. Redemption and Beyond

With the full Bloodgate scandal now exposed, rugby enters a period of soul-searching.

Fallen Harlequins coach Dean Richards makes allegations that blood cheating goes to the very top of the game, while Ugo Monye adds his weight to the argument that other teams are culpable.

And when Tom Williams returns to the rugby pitch, he’s given a less than warm welcome by opponent Chris Ashton.

Narrator: Ross Kemp
Reporter/Interviewer: Chris Jones
Writer/Producer: Sam Sheringham
Story editor: Tom Fuller
Sound design/production: Jesse Howard
Digital Producers: Sam Huxley and Stephen Trenchard
Assistant producers: Metin Yilmaz, Jack Wood, Mujtaba Ali and Victoria Turner
BBC 5 Live Sport podcast editor: Matt Smith
Commissioner: Stevie Middleton

6. Rugby’s Reckoning

Bloodgate is big news - and it’s about to get even bigger…

Dean Richards’ resignation has thrust Bloodgate onto the front and back pages - but details of the cover-ups remain outside the public domain.

That’s until Paul Kelso, sports news correspondent for the Daily Telegraph, arrives on the scene. 

While Kelso, now a Sky news correspondent, starts to release details of the murky aftermath to the cheating plot, Tom Williams prepares to reveal all.

Everything comes to a head at a hearing in Glasgow, with life-changing consequences for some of the key figures in the Bloodgate plot.

Narrator: Ross Kemp
Reporter/Interviewer: Chris Jones
Writer/Producer: Sam Sheringham
Story editor: Tom Fuller
Sound design/production: Jesse Howard
Digital Producers: Sam Huxley and Stephen Trenchard
Assistant producers: Metin Yilmaz, Jack Wood, Mujtaba Ali and Victoria Turner
BBC 5 Live Sport podcast editor: Matt Smith
Commissioner: Stevie Middleton

5. The Biggest Beast in The Jungle

In the seventh episode, Puerto Rico reels from news of the killing; but as Jose pleads self-defence, the police and courts struggle to get to the bottom of what really happened to Bruiser Brody.

Bruiser Brody was a wrestling star in the 1970s and 1980s; a classic villain of the ring, and a foil for wrestling heroes like Bruno Sammartino and Ric Flair. When he was killed in the dressing room before a fight in Puerto Rico, it shocked the world of wrestling, and pulled back the curtain on a world full of rumour, fakeouts and mystery. Comedian and wrestling fan Adam Hills tells the story of the larger than life character behind the truly unbelievable tale.
 
Producer: Ilona Toller
Assistant Producer: John Rogers
Executive Producers: Robert Nicholson and Will Yates
Sound Design: Artemis Irvine
Mix: Nigel Appleton
 
A Whistledown Production for BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds

7. The People vs Invader One

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