Skip to main content

Spot-fixing slips into society very easily

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. Condition them to look out for activity such as money laundering and ensure they promote responsible gambling. Society should teach kids the maths of gambling so they don't get hooked. Teach kids the ethics of always doing their best, but do not under any circumstances ban it outright and make it harder to police....

Spot-fixing: Youngsters following their idols’ footsteps

There was a time, not long ago, when youngsters idolised and tried to emulate Imran Khan and Wasim Akram, or more recently Shoaib Akhtar and Shahid Afridi, as they honed their cricketing skills playing on the streets.

It seems, however, that things have changed drastically, for the worse, because teenage cricket lovers are now following in the footsteps of tainted fast-bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir, the disgraced duo currently serving a ban from all types of cricket for their involvement in the spot-fixing saga.

Fixing matches, or at least placing bets on them as a series of festival tournaments take place across the country, is not new but the act being carried out on the streets has become a favourite pastime for many. While betting – placing money on their predicted winner – is common, cash for underperformance has now hit the streets.



Geoff Lawson once said when he was coach of Pakistan briefly that when rookie kids joined the national training squads from remote areas, they often had to be taught basic things that we in the West take for granted, like brushing their teeth. It's not difficult to extend that into a reasonable assumption that matters like integrity and always giving your best on the sporting field were part of their upbringing. Corruption in most countries is simply part of life. Western society works differently, that is plain to see. Ridding cricket of match- and spot-fixing is a much deeper issue than simply bringing in laws and harsh penalties against it. The good ol' sledgehammer to crack a nut approach will not work.

With thanks to @pier0 for the link.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

It's all gone Pete Tong at Betfair!

The Christmas Hurdle from Leopardstown, a good Grade 2 race during the holiday period. But now it will go into history as the race which brought Betfair down. Over £21m at odds of 29 available on Voler La Vedette in-running - that's a potential liability of over £500m. You might think that's a bit suspicious, something's fishy, especially with the horse starting at a Betfair SP of 2.96. Well, this wasn't a horse being stopped by a jockey either - the bloody horse won! Look at what was matched at 29. Split that in half and multiply by 28 for the actual liability for the layer(s). (Matched amounts always shown as double the backers' stake, never counts the layers' risk). There's no way a Betfair client would have £600m+ in their account. Maybe £20 or even £50m from the massive syndicates who regard(ed) Betfair as safer than any bank, but not £600m. So the error has to be something technical. However, rumour has it, a helpdesk reply (not gospel, natur

Betdaq.... sold...... FOR HOW MUCH???

So as rumoured for a while, Ladbrokes have finally acquired the lemon, sorry, purple-coloured betting exchange, Betdaq. For a mind-boggling €30m as 'initial consideration'. That's an even more ridiculous price than Fernando Torres for £50m, or any English player Liverpool have purchased in recent seasons! As I've written previously there are no logical business reasons for this acquisition. from Nov 29, 2012 The Racing Post reported this week that Ladbrokes are nearing a decision to acquire Betdaq. This baffles me, it really does. Betdaq are a complete and utter lemon. Their only rival in the market has kicked so many own goals over the years with the premium charge, followed by an increase in the premium charge, cost of API and data use, customer service standards which have fallen faster than Facebook share value, site crashes and various other faults. So many pissed off Betfair customers, yet Betdaq are still tailed off with a lap to go. Around the world, Betfair

lay the field - my favourite racing strategy

Dabbling with laying the field in-running at various prices today, not just one price, but several in the same race. Got several matched in the previous race at Brighton, then this race came along at Nottingham. Such a long straight at Nottingham makes punters often over-react and think the finish line is closer than it actually is. As you can see by the number of bets matched, there was plenty of volatility in this in-play market. It's rare you'll get a complete wipe-out with one horse getting matched at all levels, but it can happen, so don't give yourself too much risk...