Cricket Australia inks deal with betting exchange

Melbourne: The Australian cricket board has inked a deal with a British-based betting exchange to provide information that might help in match-fixing or corruption probes involving its players or officials. The agency, Betfair, said it has similar arrangements with a number of other sporting organisations, including the International Cricket Council, the Football Association in Britain and the Association of Tennis Professionals. Betfair offers a global, Internet exchange to registered users. They use the service to wager on a wide range of sports, including cricket. Every detail of all bets on its system is fully tracked, as are all movements of funds. Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland said both parties signed the memorandum as a contingency in case Cricket Australia needs to investigate suspected breaches of its rules regarding betting, match-fixing and corruption by administrators, officials or players. Cricket Australia bans gambling on all types of cricket matches by its players, officials and employees. (AP)