Waking up this morning, even if you didn’t decide to go out last night and drink yourself into a state, you’ll wake up thinking you did. Hitting the sack last night, England’s cricketers were looking rather good indeed – as if they would soon be wrapping up the series and bringing the urn back home. It’s still down to the Australians to look red-faced though.
It’s not because Liz Hurley has unceremoniously dumped Shane Warne, or that they’ve run out of corks for those novelty hats that seem to be sold everywhere. Thankfully, it’s down to the bookmakers to make everyone else look fairly sane.
One of the companies at the centre of the recent Racing NSW vs the bookies case, Sportsbet have dropped quite the boob with their latest news. They’ve decided that the Ashes are already a done thing, and have paid out on the English taking the little urn back home.
Sportsbet.com.au’s chief executive Matthew Tripp said: “Unfortunately for Australian cricket fans the writing is on the wall and we can’t see the Aussies coming back from here. We’d be paying out soon enough anyway so punters may as well have their cash now in time for Christmas.”
The stunt has cost them $400,000 and this all as Mitchell Johnson was laying waste to the English batting line-up, taking figures of six for 38 and England only managing to reach 187 runs.
“Cricket punters are normally very patriotic to the Aussies but they also know a good thing when they see it and it seems everyone has backed England to win this series,” Tripp added.
Maybe those same people will get back on the Aussies if they win this test. Sportsbet would really be in the mire then.
