Piepa Cleary, Australian women's cricketer banned for involvement in betting

After Angela Reakes, another Australian women’s cricketer has been caught for betting this summer with Western Australian’s Piepa Cleary suspended for six months by Cricket Australia (CA) for placing bets on the day-night Test in Adelaide last November.

The 19-year old right-arm medium pacer placed six bets totalling $15.50 on various elements of the match between Australia and New Zealand. Earlier on December Angela Reakes was banned for two years for betting on the men’s 2015 World Cup Final by CA.

Zero-tolerance approach to gambling: CA head of security

On this case, the CA head of integrity Iain Roy chose to activate the first six months of that ban due to several "aggravating circumstances" including the fact that Cleary had made the bets two months after being present at a face-to-face anti-corruption training session from CA head of security Sean Carroll.

Roy said, "We continue to remind all elite cricketers and officials that betting on any form of cricket is strictly prohibited. It is outlined in the anti-corruption education that we deliver annually, and is written into our anti-corruption code. Piepa has heard this message many times through the anti-corruption education sessions that we deliver and accepts that in placing the bets she exercised poor judgement. Bets totalling $15.50 might seem small but it doesn't matter.”

He added, "We take a zero-tolerance approach to any form of gambling on cricket by players in order to protect the integrity of the game. It has been made very clear that if Piepa breaches the code in any way again, she will receive a significantly lengthier suspension."

Christina Matthews, chief executive of the Western Australian Cricket Association (WACA) also expressed her disappointment at Cleary's actions. She said, "We are naturally disappointed that one of our players has been involved in an incident such as this. Cricket in this country is held in high regard for its integrity and it is important for the future of the sport that remains the case. The WACA understands and supports the sanctions that have been handed down in this instance.”

She added, "Piepa will have to work hard to regain some respect from this incident, but she remains an important member of WA cricket and has taken responsibility for her actions."

CA has 16 official betting partners, all of which have signed up to "assist CA in its ongoing management of the integrity of CA competitions, by agreeing to information sharing and other integrity requirements specified by CA".