Cronje ban appeal to be heard in High Court

Hansie Cronje, the disgraced former captain of South Africa, will not walk back into the domestic game if his life ban is overturned. Cronje's appeal will be heard in the High Court here today, and the suspension could be lifted if the judge rules he should have had a hearing before being punished by the United Cricket Board.

But the UCB are expected to counter that the ban was applied only after Cronje had stated his desire to cut all ties with the game. Reports that Cronje, who admitted last year to taking money from bookmakers, could be free to play again by the weekend were dismissed as "pure speculation" by the UCB.

Cronje's province, the Orange Free State, do not believe he will play again and confirmed that as far as they are concerned his cricketing days are over. "It hasn't even been discussed," said the Free State Cricket Union general manager Seppi Lusardi. "It has not been debated by my executive. He's retired from international and representative cricket and he has made it very clear by releasing a statement again about that yesterday.

"What we do depends on the outcome of the court case and what the United Cricket Board decide."

The South African press have reported that Cronje might be appealing to pave the way for a career in television, something that could be jeopardised by a ban.