The perils of punting

Sport betting: WE may have landed our 9-1 wager on England to beat Pakistan in the infamous Test series just gone, but the sweet scent of a winning bet has been somewhat poisoned by the allegations against four members of the tourists’ team.

I stress these are only allegations at present. But if they are proven to be correct, then one can only shudder at the implications for the players involved and Pakistan cricket in general.

As for the betting side of things, then it’s fairly straightforward so far as I am concerned.

The outcome of the series and the individual matches have been and gone, and bets have been settled whether you have won or lost.

There are two sides of the coin. If you have won, perhaps — and only perhaps as nothing has been proven — you have been given an unfair helping hand. If you have lost, then you have reason to gripe.

The bottom line, however, is that no sporting contest subject to big betting can guarantee to be squeaky clean.

There have been allegations about fixing in football, snooker and several other sports.

Some investigations are ongoing, as they are in cricket with the Pakistan team and two players on the county scene.

The finger is often pointed at horse racing and, I have to admit, despite my love of the sport, with some justification.

But let us be clear. Wherever there are large sums of money involved there is bound to be skullduggery.

It happens in business and many other walks of life. Whether we like it or not, we live in a corrupt society.

Punters must be aware of this when having a bet and those who aren’t are wet behind the ears.

Anyonr holding losing betting slips on the England-Pakistan series and feeling short-changed really ought to think again before laying down their money in future.

The public should, justifiably, expect to be punting on an event free of wrongdoing - in a perfect world every sporting contest would be so - but you just never know.

For my part, I am prepared to take the risk as I have faith that most sporting contests I bet on are clean.

But I also accept, no matter how distasteful the truth may be, that there is a shady element in society whose desire to make a fast buck has no consideration for the many people who are ripped off in the process,

This is the harsh reality of the world in which we live. And if you are prepared to gamble, then you have to accept it.

I will end this column on this rather sombre note and look forward to a return to normal next week when, hopefully, I will be pointing you towards profit in the sporting arena.