Sport is made for betting

A disturbing, but unsurprising, report from Pakistan about the infiltration of spot-fixing into the fabric of cricket at all levels. For all the posturing and anti-gambling hysteria from idiot politicians such as Senator Nick Xenophon in Australia, one thing is crystal clear - the more you drive gambling underground, the more crooked it becomes. Simple comparison - how often do you see betting scandals in the UK and Australia as against any part of Asia? Which one of those societies tries to force betting underground? Eastern Europe can also be considered closer to Asia than the UK/Australia because the only form of legalised betting is often via state monopolies with extortionate take-out/tax rates. Competition, licensing, regulation and education is THE ONLY WAY to handle it. Make all companies operate on normal business principles - look after the customer or they will attempt to screw you over. Keep a tight rein over companies so they always have their finances in order. Conditio...

I got you, do-do-doo....... sang the legendary James Brown. England suffer deep embarrassment again. Not only losing to Bangladesh, but looking gone (traded at 10), taking quick wickets to trade 1.03, and then screwing it up! Great death bowling from James Anderson - from Cricinfo Just to add to the tension it's batting Powerplay time. Fielders have to come in 33 needed from 30. Bangladesh have it all to do. Prayers from the crowd... 45.1 Anderson to Mahmudullah, 5 wides, ...are answered here! Heady stuff for the Bangladeshis as Anderson spears this down the leg side, off it went past Prior and skimmed away for five wides! 45.1 Anderson to Mahmudullah, 1 run, down the leg side again, Mahmudullah clips classily to deep square. What a better option he is than Ashraful 45.2 Anderson to Shafiul Islam, 1 run, push and go from Shafiul! Very smart, just sat back, dropped it to mid-off and hared down the other end. The single is greeted with jumping ovations from the crowd 45.3 A...

Excuse me while I piss myself, over and over again. The greatest gubbing of all time. That's over £8 million traded at 1.04 or shorter. Almost £5 million at 1.02 or shorter. £2.7m matched at 1.01. England, fresh from possibly the best ODI of all-time, the 338 runs apiece tie with India on Sunday. They scored 327 off 50 overs, a huge score against any side. Surely an ICC associate member like Ireland, a complete minnow in the world of cricket, couldn't chase that down? Enter Kevin O'Brien and a magnificent innings of 113 off 63 balls. The fastest World Cup century of all time. England brought their gun bowlers and on this perfect batting pitch, Ireland made them look like village pie-chuckers!

Small fry punters and bookmakers caught up in this one by the looks of it. 6 held for betting during India-SA ODI Six persons were arrested in New Delhi for allegedly indulging in betting during the One Day International between India and South Africa on Friday. The gang was using website www.betfair.com for obtaining the latest fluctuating rates for the stake and betting on the cricket match, Chhaya Sharma, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer), said. Stake money worth Rs 72,000 was recovered from the house in Rohini Sector 16 in Outer Delhi. Gotta love how Indian journalism traditions forces them to list the entire website address rather than just referring to them as Betfair. Surely not publishing the URL would be a better idea if it was banned there? Meanwhile, huge amounts were being traded on South Africa at 1.01 today before Yusuf Pathan scared the willies out of the money-buyers with 105 runs off 74 balls. Luckily for them, Pathan got out and the queue to jump off...

Australia have been completely outplayed in this Ashes series. With the exception of the WACA where one cricket expert on Twitter said 'Aliens invaded Mitchell Johnson's body for a week and then left', it hasn't even been close. England have been everything Australia used to be - relentless, impossible to budge and mentally superior, not forgetting better at little things like batting, bowling and fielding. Most of the Australian side are now playing for their futures. Several should be marked 'Never to play Test cricket again', however mitigating factors such as lack of depth, spineless selectors and most of them play for NSW will give some of them more chances than they deserve. Carrying on like spoilt children though when decisions go against you, the ball CLEARLY bounces in front of the catcher or not clapping the batsman when they reach 50 or 100 is just pathetic. It's one thing to hate losing - all top sportspeople hate losing, but sooking, whingei...

There's no hiding behind the facts. Australia have been completely outplayed by England in this Ashes series, an England side that aren't best in the world either. The best thing Cricket Australia can do now is give the current team a finale in Sydney, push Ricky Ponting and Simon Katich into Test retirement and commit to a plan to be ready for the 2013 Ashes. They must look further than next summer or the next series - the depth of players currently isn't there in Australia, they need to start sweeping out the dead wood who consistently underperform - Michael Clarke, Mitchell Johnson etc and not let them back into the Test XI unless they show sustained form at a lower level, above and beyond their rivals. Phil Hughes is to be stamped 'NTPFAA' (Never To Play For Australia Again), his technique is far too flawed for international cricket. A sustained period of success and the attraction of Twenty20 cricket has damaged Australia's cricketing future. Massaging ...

That sums up the Australian cricket team this series - it is simply a mediocre side and no matter who they bring in, it is highly unlikely to change it. Is Twenty20 cricket to blame? Have other sports stolen cricket's thunder by snapping up the promising young players, who are often gifted at more than one sport? Is it a backlash against an overly cocky Australian team since Ponting took the helm? Or is it simply a regression to the mean after a superstar-studded golden era, now we have to return to a more 'normal' set of cricketers, with no match-winners amongst them? Things don't look good for either side to be honest. 11 wickets each over five full days on a pitch which usually has plenty of life in it doesn't augur well for the bowlers of either nation. Let's hope there's some life in the remaining pitches of the series because we all slag off the lifeless pitches on the subcontinent which lead to huge scores. The crowd on the final day showed what the...

England all out 260, Australia 0/25 in reply. The obvious highlight of the day was Peter Siddle's glorious hat-trick. I'd had a bit of a snooze on the couch for a couple of hours, only to be woken by the first wicket, then woke up properly when Prior was skittled and then was jumping around the lounge room when Broad was out first ball. Great performance from the birthday boy, whose selection was questioned by many (not me though, he's a Victorian, thus he is champ!) Despite England being knocked over on day one, the pitch didn't seem to have any demons in it. The Australian bowlers as a whole performed well, with the exception of left-arm tripe bowler Mitchell Johnson. Expensive and didn't see him threaten at all. The others were discplined, bowling the right line and the right length for the majority of the day. If you put it in the right place often enough against batsmen who aren't the world's best, they'll get themselves out soon enough. Credit ...

Aussies were cruising after having Sri Lanka at 8/107 chasing 240 to win.Taylor and Malinga have been tonking the average Aussie attack all around the MCG, now they only need 25 runs off nine overs. All comes down to wickets now and captain Michael Clarke doesn't have anything up his sleeve....

News of the World have printed the latest series of allegations in the Pakistan cricket corruption scandal. Pakistan have had a chequered history in cricket with rumours, allegations and the odd conviction prevalent for a few decades, and before that, it was presure on home umpires to cheat - long before the neutral umpire system came in. So on top of last week's deliberate no-balls to show the players would perform on cue, now we have Salman Butt caught with a pile of dirty money in his room , a player annoyed at not being selected accusing most of his teammates of being corrupt and then the same player denying he said anything . The football club Mazhar Majeed confessed to using a money-laundering toy is now falling apart. And it all came from a tip-off .... It's time cricket authorities, and not just the ICC, had the balls to stand up to Pakistan and tell them to piss off to the B leagues, playing the likes of Zimbabwe. If the ICC don't kick them out, then countri...

News breaking tonight of another betting scandal involving the Pakistan cricket team and the News of the World, an English tabloid newspaper. A middle-man is alleged to have arranged no-balls at specific times in the England first innings in the current Test match at Lord's, in return for substantial amounts of money. The no-balls in question bowled by Mohammed Amir were not even close, at least a foot over, which is curious, the one for Mohammed Asif wasn't so blatant. But is it as clear-cut as it seems? For me, it sounds too perfect. Pakistan are easy targets - they don't have a great reputation for integrity, and linking it to illegal bookmakers on the sub-continent is the perfect modus operandi as they have no licence or audit trail. People say that millions get bet on this stuff, despite all sorts of previous allegations about these markets, but there's nowhere to prove it is true or not. Was the evidence shown to anyone before the event, or did it only emerge co...

If you didn't catch the end of the T20 World Cup semi-final last night between Australia and Pakistan, you should be kicking yourself. Pakistan batted brilliantly, tearing the Aussie bowling apart to score 6/191. The Aussies were always under the pump, losing Warner in the first over, Watson soon after, then Clarke, Haddin and D.Hussey for not a lot. Cue a fightback from Cameron White, but then he was out with 19 balls left, the team 53 runs short. Even I'd given up - it couldn't be done, Pakistan were bowling too tightly and the Aussies were struggling to find the boundaries. Then up stepped Michael Hussey with an inspired finish. 60 not off 24 balls.... Mike Hussey's last five balls faced... 4 6 6 4 6. Here's a summary of his innings from Cricinfo Some cricket traders copped a hiding, with over £380k matched on Pakistan at 1.01. The crowd, the commentators, the Australian team on the bench and the Pakistani players and entourage were simply gobsmacked by the perfo...

According to this report , IPL tournaments so far have been rife with spot-fixing - that is fixing minor elements of the game - runs in a single over, number of wides bowled etc. The curious part of that article is that the Income Tax department are supposed to have found these crimes. What idiot would be stupid enough to put down 'big wad of cash handed to me by bookie' as a source of income? Backhanders for sportsmen, particularly in a celebrity- and cricket-obsessed culture like India are not rare. They could come from anything like turning up to open someone's new business (not a sponsor, but a 'friend of a friend' arrangement), to being a guest at some devoted fan's dinner party etc. The opportunities are always there, and there will always be people trying to become friends with players and their entourage - that is human nature. This form of match-fixing (and it's not really fixing a match, just a minor element of it) is very hard to prove, but also, ...

It's a natural fit for Betfair to get into India. Cricket betting is enormous and local bookies are mostly traders, offering a buy and sell price with each quote. Legalising betting in the country is the next step, and the most logical way to crack down on illegal, unlicensed betting, the most common route for corruption. Indian law means foreign companies must partner with local firms to do business there, in any industry. Betfair and William Hill target India Britain's biggest betting companies are bidding for the first online gambling licence in India to gain a slice of the country's $60bn (£37bn) betting market. The high-street bookie William Hill, along with internet players Betfair and Bwin, are bidding for the internet licence in the Himalayan state of Sikkim in early September. A decision is expected in the next two weeks. Some 13 betting companies, including local Indian operators, are battling it out for at least three licences in Sikkim. Sources said they want th...

Firstly, congratulations to England for winning back the Ashes. I still struggle to fathom how they did it, with most statistical measures pointing towards Australia, but at the end of the day, the book says 2-1 to England, and the rest is immaterial. The Aussies: Katich - averaged 42, scored one century, performed well at short leg with a couple of dismissals in the final Test which only a specialist could conjure. Far better this tour than last time and is the steady opener we need. Hughes - such a talented kid, got found out early and got replaced by an allrounder who suddenly found a role. He'll be back soon enough after remedial work on his technique. He is too good to be lost to the team for long, but couldn't quite handle the pressure cooker of the Ashes so early in his career. Watson - most bagged his selection but you can't bag his performance. Three 50s in five innings, average of 48, although it was disappointing he didn't convert any of those into a score hi...

The third Ashes Test begins later today at Edgbaston. The outfield is sodden from days of heavy rain inthe Midlands. The draw price has been crunched down to 1.74 with more rain expected throughout the match. But does the prospect of wet weather also bring more wickets as the ball moves around more? If the water can be dispersed from the outfield and play start close to 11am, a reasonable day by the forecast could see a complete innings gone. And if that happens, the draw will no longer be odds-on. Rain at Edgbaston all right for some Last time at Edgbaston, the Aussies lost McGrath on the morning of the match and it cost them dearly. The two Tests we lost were the ones McGrath wasn't fit for. Will KP have a similar effect on the Poms? An England batting line-up with Bopara and Bell doesn't scare anyone. Mind you, the way Johnson is bowling, he's not exactly putting fear into anyone either. Though apparently he's patched up his differences with his mum over some ridicul...

Can it be done? Can Australia really chase down 521 in the fourth innings to win at Lord's? Well, if the skies stay blue and the pitch is benign, we have to be a chance with Clarke and Haddin in fine form. But, one wicket goes early and that all goes out the window. There's a big difference between the tail hanging around to be annoying and the tail wagging to create history. The Aussies are down to 5/2 (3.5) on Betfair at the moment, can't help thinking that is mighty short considering there are no recognised batsmen left in the pavilion and there are still over 200 runs left to get....

I did say last week that I gave Australia little chance of winning the World T20 tournament, however I did expect them to put up a better fight in the group stage. And it does take a little bit of value out of my tickets to the double-header at Lord's on Friday :( We've just come off an IPL series where only six bowlers played 10 matches or more and avergaed less than a run per ball. What was the common denominator? They (Murali, Duminy, Harbhajan, Kumble, Karthik, Raina) are all slow bowlers, and half of them are part-timers. Spin bowlers averaged 1.5 runs less per over than pacemen in the 2009 IPL. So what was Australia's tactic? Bowl fast, bowl fast, bowl fast. Blind Freddie could tell you that slow bowling in the middle overs of a 50 over game slows momentum. In T20, it makes the batsman work harder. No dinky lobs over fine leg, no flailing the bat knowing a thick edge will go for four, make them earn their runs. Brett Lee - possibly the most over-rated player in crick...

This has to be the end of his career. So much talent, such an arrogant tool with little regard for his teammates. Aussies send Andrew Symonds home After a blip last summer Down Under mostly due to a plethora of injuries to the strike bowlers, the Australian team are back in business. There are plenty of Aussies keen to give blood for their country instead of continually stuff up every chance given to them. Not too fussed if the Aussies win the T20 anyway, the Ashes are a far bigger prize.

I'd love to write one myself but haven't the time, so here's the rub from the Punting Ace expert 'Mr Cricket'. World T20 preview Not sure who will win it, but would be extremely surprised if either Australia or England holds the trophy - the Ashes is a far bigger priority.