Betting is of course illegal in India but if Jacques Rogge, the IOC President, gets his way then the sport governing body will receive a cut of betting revenues. I imagine that in that scenario the BCCI would be able to quickly change the Indian government's views on betting and it would soon be legalised...
Amongst a pretty general article about the spo-fixing scandal at The Economist, they've hit on something that could come out of the current betting scandal - a shake up is required of the way the game is run. OK, so it's a particularly one-sided view, but there is an element of truth in their grand statement:
"This blight is a syptom of cricket's mismanagement. Most national boards are manned by unaccountable, often incompetent and overly politicised administrators, ill-fitted to a game that generates billions of dollars. The supremo of its governing body, the International Cricket Council, should have no time to spare for this task. He is Sharad Pawar, India's Agriculture Minister."
Perhaps not exactly how I would have put it, but a sentiment I can't help but agree entirely with.
It's normally good to see cricket dominating the Sunday papers at this stage of the summer when football seems to take over 95% of sports coverage in England. But sadly cricket is in the news for all the wrong reasons this morning as it is alleged Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif have delivered no balls to order and that skipper Salman Butt has discussed playing overs out for maidens in return for money.
What an absolute nightmare for the sport if it is true - if the players aren't convicted through police channels then the expectation will be that strong action will be taken by the games' authorities. Either way, the game will be markedly weaker as the best bowling attack in the game is likely to be decimated, and cricket's most turbulent nation will be robbed of their latest skipper.
I'm not a fan of journalists creating news rather than reporting it, but you can view the News of The World undercover video here.
