A decade or more ago when the betting rings of British racecourses were my office spaces, one came across all manner of rural myths relating to the markets. My favourite was the one about a small team of individuals - one monitoring the tic-tac in the ring and two others in a van on the racecourse perimeter illegally monitoring mobile phone conversations and using bullet microphones to listen into the ramblings of the layers. Cool!
I was reminded of this "myth" at the weekend when an urban equivalent was suggested to me by one of my market analysts. The word is that some traders are using similar microphones and other devices that should be left in university physics laboratories to monitor the miked-up Premiership officials. The Professional Game Match Officials Board should be taking note of this potential loophole in their operation.
