09 October 2004	Saturday	23 Shaban 1425

DURBAN, Oct 8: Indian police have sent questions to South Africa's Herschelle Gibbs and Nicky Boje as part of their investigation into alleged match-fixing, a United Cricket Board of South Africa (UCB) statement said on Friday.

The questions, sent to the UCB, relate to the investigation into alleged match fixing and corruption during South Africa's tour of India in 2000. South Africa begin another tour of India next month, and the UCB has sought assurances from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the International Cricket Council (ICC) that opening batsman Gibbs and spinner Boje will not be detained in the country.

The statement said the players would answer the questions in affidavits which will be handed to the Indian high commission in South Africa. "We are keen to assist in this matter, and we hope the affidavits will complete the process," UCB chief executive Gerald Majola said.

Gibbs and Boje will be represented by Tony Irish, a lawyer who is the chief executive of the South African Cricketers' Association. "The UCB has referred to us whatever it has received from India, and we are advising the players," Irish told Reuters from Cape Town on Friday.

Irish said the BCCI and the ICC had told the UCB that they could not guarantee that Gibbs and Boje would not be held in India. "Both parties have said that assurance could only be obtained from the Indian police," Irish said.

In 2000, the Delhi police exposed former South African captain Hansie Cronje's involvement in match fixing. Gibbs, who was recruited by Cronje to under-perform in a one-day international in 2000, was fined and suspended from cricket for six months.

Gibbs agreed to be dismissed for less than 20 in exchange for $15,000. He scored 74, later telling the King commission, South Africa's investigation into the Cronje affair, that he "forgot" about the deal.

Boje testified at the King commission but was not implicated in match-fixing. Cronje, who was banned from cricket for life, died in a plane crash in 2002. South Africa are scheduled to play India in two Tests, at Kanpur, starting on Nov 20, and Kolkata. -AFP