Investigating the Advantages and Disadvantages of Cricket Betting
Cricket has suffered with the introduction of T20 and the massive sums of money that go along with it as a result of the dishonest ways some individuals within the game have exploited their position for quick financial gain. Some likely got away with it, but others—as we all know—did not.
Now the question is: Should we be worried about the future and course of our cherished game?
However, where there is money, there is typically someone to exploit it and corrupt something that has long established the reputation of a gentlemen's game played by fair and honest people. Of course, the entrance of huge money into cricket has long been overdue and is undoubtedly welcome.
Of course, those decent and trustworthy people are still in place, still in charge, and still participating in the game. I'm referring about the minuscule minority of people, though, who have chosen to alter the odds in their favor by enticing players to bowl empty pitches, concede runs, or, in the worst scenarios, even toss matches.
In rare cases, a player may only throw away a boundary or bowl a no-ball at a specific point in the game (often while being influenced by an outside agent or bookmaker). A few people claim "then what? A few runs or a no-ball will undoubtedly have little impact on the result of the game." No, that is not the point. It might not. Simply put, what these folks are doing is cheating. There are no restrictions on cheating, so you can't just do a little bit. There is no gray area; you are either cheating or you are not.
Likewise, I've heard defenses like, "Well, it's just the bookmakers we're cheating on anyhow." False, we are playing by the rules. Who knows how deeply ingrained this issue is in our prized game; it may merely be superficial. However, because it has occurred, it makes us all always skeptical, which in turn can impair our pleasure of the game or, worse still, drive us to give up on cricket completely.
Although practically every sport experiences incidents involving betting or cheating, that does not make them right. I enjoy cycling, but who can watch the Tour de France without speculating that some of the competitors might be using drugs? Similar to how I feel about athletics, there is always that nagging doubt.
Of course, there are well-known cricket examples that have made headlines; I won't go into them here, but this is what we know because they were recorded on video with no justifications. They would have done so if there had been a method to argue this particular case, but there wasn't. How many more cases exist that we are not aware of? Nobody truly knows, but the danger is that we will all start to look suspiciously at anything unusual because, as the saying goes, "there is no smoke without fire."
This seems a little depressing to me. The remarkable performances and memorable games from the past, which we all admired, can be called into question in the future. It's possible that individual brilliance feats aren't as admired as they formerly were. Although this is a pretty pessimistic perspective, it is human nature. In the same way, when an athlete achieves a world record, do we ever question if they've taken performance-enhancing drugs? Would we ask the same question if we saw a fantastic ride in the Tour de France the following year?
In actuality, these cheaters may have done something within a game that seemed inconsequential to them, such as giving away an unusual run. They may believe there has been no harm because they received a big payment for this minor transgression. However, this (as has been seen) has caused irreparable harm to a game that has been adored and recognized across the world as the fairest of games played by perfect gentlemen, proving that they are utterly WRONG.
In response to the issue I posed at the outset, I believe we are on a precipice and that unless something is done within the game, the outcome will only be unfavorable. On the other side, the money spent on the game has undoubtedly helped cricket gain a whole new fan base, including young people and female spectators. Who knows, it might even catch on in the United States. Nevertheless, I won't hold my breath.
Read more:
Cricket Betting