Sports-mad South Africa was in mourning as it prepared to bid farewell to disgraced former cricket captain Hansie Cronje, who was killed in a plane crash at the age of 32.

The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) said it had been "inundated" with letters and emails of support for the family of the fallen sports icon, whose role in a match-fixing scandal two years ago shocked the tradition-steeped game.

The devout Christian stunned the cricket world two years ago after admitting he had accepted about 130,000 dollars from bookmakers to influence the course of matches. He was subsequently banned for life from the game he loved.

His funeral was due to begin at 1200 GMT at his former high school, Grey College, in his hometown of Bloemfontein, an Afrikaans stronghold in the mostly rural Free State province where cricket and rugby are revered.

"Hansie is still our hero. He achieved so many things. I felt terrible when I heard the news, I felt like I lost my own son," Johannes Steenkamp, a former teacher at the school whose son was a friend of Cronje's, told this news agency on Wednesday.

"He never got forgiveness before he died but in Bloemfontein the

feeling has definitely changed," said Steenkamp, who was one of hundreds of people gathered at Grey College before the funeral.

Bouquets of flowers lined the entrance to the 147-year-old school and school boys in blue blazers were lining up to form a guard of honour to escort the casket into the hall where the service will be held.

Local media reports said Cronje would be cremated after the funeral.

Underscoring the outpouring of

HANSIE CRONJE

public grief for a man who just two years ago was widely vilified in the media, the funeral service will be broadcast live on SABC television and satellite subscription channel SuperSport.

The charismatic Rhema Church in Johannesburg, to which Cronje belonged, will show the service on a big screen.

Thousands of people are expected to attend the funeral,

including executive members of the United Cricket Board (UCB) of South Africa, who were initially told in a letter from the Cronje family they would not be welcome.

But his widow, Bertha, said all were welcome at the funeral, saying that was what her husband would have wanted, prompting a second letter to the UCB which said anyone could attend.

Current South African captain Shaun Pollock told Reuters on Tuesday he would attend the service and local media reports said he would be one of the speakers.

Cronje's father, Ewie, told SABC TV on Wednesday his son had been rebuilding his life at the time of his death. In February, Cronje was appointed as a financial manager by a company listed on the Johannesburg stock exchange.

"He enjoyed (his new work)...His mood was so much better," his father said.

Shattered by the fall from grace of a national sporting hero who displayed dazzling skills on the pitch, Cronje was given strongly attacked at the height of the matchfixing scandal.

But his tragic death at a young age has placed South Africa's notoriously fickle sports fans in a forgiving mood. Most media tributes to him have been gushing in their praise for the former sports hero.

Citizen newspaper's editorial on Monday said: "No matter what you say about Hansie Cronje, you can count us among his fans. He was a charismatic, natural leader and a great sportsman."