Former South African captain Hansie Cronje on Monday refuted suggestions that he had not made full disclosure of his financial affairs to the King commission of inquiry.

He said, in fact, that he and his advisors had completed a forensic audit into his affairs, started but abandoned when the commission closed down, and that he was prepared to make details of his bank accounts and financial transactions over the past few years public.

Cronje was responding to revelations in The Sunday Telegraph that he held 19 different bank accounts and title deeds to eight properties. This information apparently comes from a report by Deloitte Touch whose audit was never fully completed.

The Sunday Telegraph story was picked up by South African newspapers on Monday, with the Johannesburg Star carrying under the headline "Hansie's secret accounts". Cronje, however, angrily denied that there was anything secret about his bank accounts, arguing that he had disclosed details of the accounts to the forensic auditors.

"On February 5 I received a number of queries from the auditors," said Cronje. "And on February 9 the King commission closed down. That's the last I heard from them."

But, said Cronje, he had answered all of the queries and compiled them into a report which he was prepared to make public.

"It contains everything about my finances," he said. "The (South African) Director of Prosecutions can have a look at it. Anyone can see it. I don't mind."

He said the reports he had read in the past two days had contained "blatant lies and half-truths".

"I've disclosed everything I know," he said. "If you want to accuse me of accepting money from bookmakers, then, yes, I'm guilty. But if you say I'm covering things up, then that's a lie."

Cronje also issued a statement on Monday in which he accused Neil Manthorp, the author of the Sunday Telegraph article, of "irresponsible journalism" and claimed that it was a continuation of a campaign mounted by Manthorp against him.

Manthorp denies the existence of any such campaign.

Cronje might still face criminal prosecution for charges under the Corruption Act, but on Monday it was not at all clear whether the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had made up his mind about the indemnity deal offered Cronje on condition he made full disclosure to the King commission. Sipho Ngwema, a spokesman for the DPP, said that the facts had still to be checked by his department.

In his final report, Justice Edwin King said that he was not in a position to recommend prosecution or otherwise for Cronje and, in effect, passed the buck to the DPP.

It has also been reported that the Scorpions, the elite investigative unit, has also taken an interest in the Sunday Telegraph story. The involvement of the Scorpions, however, could raise difficulties if and when Cronje is prosecuted. Percy Sonn, the president of the United Cricket Board, is the head of the Scorpions, and has already quoted as saying that Cronje "should not be allowed to play beach cricket".

In the meantime, Cronje is to hold a press conference in Bloemfontein on Tuesday at which, he said, he would answer any questions relating to his financial affairs. Cronje will be in Bloemfontein to attend the funeral of his grandmother who died on Sunday.

© CricInfo