Yesterday was one of the biggest earning days ever for the South Asian cricket bookmakers (particularly in India).
The Cricket World Cup was suitably scheduled to ensure that Pakistan, Bangladesh and India had gambling events established on the first big betting Saturday of the competition.
Dravid started the nonsense by choosing to bat on a Trinidad wicket known for it's early liveliness and the Indians never recovered from their slovenly start. Interestingly only two players scored more than fifteen runs which is always suspicious when one of the world's leading teams is playing a junior ICC member. India fielded in a revealingly poor manner allowing a bunch of untried teenagers to merit an uplifting victory (despite the grubby fingers of the manipulating bookies).
But this was standard Cricket World Cup fare - India will qualify for the latter stages and Saturday's event was merely an earner.
Not so the Pakistanis!
I've had some pretty weird St Pat's but watching Ireland slaughter the mighty Pakistan at cricket while drinking seaweed beer certainly ranks up there... In the estimation of our Trading Team, we reckon that around half the Pakistan team were massively underperforming whether bookmaker-influenced or not. Inzamam-ul-Haq captained the team allegedly and, despite the best efforts of Sami, Gul and Iftikhar, Ireland deserved their astonishing triumph.
The South Asian bookmakers have been a dominant force in the global cricket betting markets for many years. A mixture of complicity and coercion allows complete control of the various South Asian national team's events. Similarly to the Chinese control of the football markets of the 1990's, the control has been absolute. Nowadays, things are not quite so clear but these bookmakers remain key global operators.
The massive devotion of the populations of Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh to the game of cricket deserves better. These people receive no respect from the corrupting bookmakers.
But, reluctantly dealing with the realities... Via creative lateral thinking and holistic overview the Cricket World Cup is a significant source of profit. Corruption = cash for more than just the manipulators...
Incidentally, you can now get 20/1 in places on India winning the World Cup - this is not an advice but merely an observation...
