Cricket Australia Expresses Concern For Game's Integrity Amid Betting Crackdown

Cricket Australia has "ordered a major betting crackdown" in a leaked legal letter that "reveals ongoing worries about the game's integrity," according to Ben Dorries of the COURIER-MAIL. CA has demanded Australian sports bookmakers cease betting on a stream of options that CA believes "have the potential to be manipulated by current players." The leaked letter was written by CA legal counsel Tim Leoncelli and sent to bookmakers, including Sportingbet, Tom Waterhouse.com and Betstar. The letter "lists the bet types that CA wants banned and explains its rationale for forbidding each bet." The letter warns, "Offering bet types in breach of these rules threatens the integrity of the sport and the sports betting industry and CA will take appropriate action." Several bookies who have information sharing or integrity agreements with CA have already "had little choice but to ban the bet types although some will submit to CA that overseas betting organisations offer the bet types" (COURIER-MAIL, 12/13).