The PLOG (Punter's Blog)

Plog 33 - 2/9/10:
On Other Sports

"THAT is a legitimate ball." Using the grooves in the laminate flooring in our living room, I was explaining cricket's no-ball rule to my wife. I stood up and placed my right foot behind one of the grooves. "And that is a legitimate ball," I said as I moved my foot so that it straddled the groove, "... and that is a no-ball", I said as I moved my whole foot to the other side of the groove.

Seems that it takes a bit of funny business to make sport the main news. The beginning of the week during which I wrote this saw the BBC's 6:00 news bulletin - as in the one that goes out on BBC One, we're not talking about a news channel here - lead with the story about the Pakistan cricket team's alleged betting scam. The second story was 'bloodgate' - the scandal that shocked rugby union to the core a few months previously.

Who remembers the previous Pakistan tour to England in 2006? Pakistan forfeited a Test match when the team refused to take the field at The Oval in protest at allegations of ball tampering by controversial umpire Darrell Hair. Those who love their cricket, including those lucky enough to have a Sky Sports subscription (now that international cricket in Britain is no longer on terrestrial television - imagine the Grand National being exclusive to ESPN - would that be allowed to happen?) would have been looking forward to seeing a fair, keenly fought-out Test series.

Only for greed - because it's always some greedy, money-driven low-life - to get in the way.

And just because it's over someone bowling no-balls at a specific time in the match, doesn't mean that it's any less serious than rigging a result. A no-ball bowled at the beginning of a five-day match results in only one run to the batting team - it is not going to decide the outcome.

The seriousness is that, if an individual get someone to bowl a no-ball in the morning on day two, that person may chance their arm and persuade that player to throw a match.

Nobody believed that it could happen in cricket, until the revelations that the former South African captain, the late Hansie Cronje, who was killed in a plane crash in 2002, had accepted money from bookmakers in return for making an early declaration in a Test match against England in early 2000. Many South Africans still see Cronje as one of their greatest sportsmen.

But from that day to this, cricket hasn't been the gentlemen's game that many see it as.

While I was writing I went on a well-known bookmaker's website and looked at the prices and offers for the England v Pakistan Twenty20 match on September 5th. There are prices for top wicket taker, team to hit the most sixes and highest opening partnership - but no prices for no-balls or wides.

The other breaking news at the same time as the cricket allegations was about the former doctor at Harlequins, the tarnished rugby club, who deliberately cut the mouth of a player who had used a fake-blood capsule in order to con the referee into thinking the player was injured - thus getting the guy substituted by a specialist kicker, more than that I'm not going to try and explain as it's too complicated.

It seems that the doctor is free to continue to pursue her medical career after the General Medical Council let her off with a formal warning. Do you want that doctor seeing you at your local surgery?

Still, look on the bright side. At least while all this was going on, nobody was going round saying that horse racing was bent.

What's the story with Am I Blue?
That was until the victory of Am I Blue, backed from 25/1 to as short as 9/2 (SP 5/1), in a 0-95 handicap hurdle at Hereford on September 1st.

Am I Blue is trained by a lady called Delyth Thomas, or 'Miss D Thomas' until this happened. Sorry, I didn't know her first name. Not many folk did, but we know now.

The former Tim Vaughan-trained filly, a half-sister to Deep Purple, had had three poor runs for her new handler, which resulted in her handicap mark dropping from 100 - now there was possibly a 'Vaughan-factor' in that, similar to the 'Pond House effect' that Martin Pipe often talked about - to 83. Her previous best finishing position had come when Richard Johnson rode her to a second-placing at Fakenham in November 2009. Johnson got the ride at Hereford, jocking off an ill Dean Coleman, who'd been booked at the overnight stage.

With the British Horseracing Authority reportedly to investigate, we haven't heard the last of it at the time of writing. But I don't know what they'll find. Bad horses often produce a win from nowhere, then go back to being bad. One day they'll just do what the jockey asks; next time they won't. Bet on a fancied animal in a 15-runner 0-95 handicap and that's the biggest risk. No trainer will be able to explain it when it happens.

Coincidentally, Am I Blue's heavy defeat at Worcester on August 17th, her last start before the Hereford race, was behind - and a very long way behind at that - a Vaughan-trained horse, Louis Ludwig, in a 0-90 conditional jockeys' handicap hurdle. Admittedly Louis Ludwig had run over fences the time before when pulled up - the ultimate put-off for punters - but there wasn't that excuse when he was 40 lengths seventh to Shipboard Romance at Uttoxeter on May 15th.

These horses are simply unreliable, and that's the reason why I have an annual hibernation from betting on jump racing in the Summer. The BHA, probably the least effective governing body in all sports, are sure to turn up diddly squat.

I'll be back soon
With that Summer nearly over, you can expect more activity from me in the coming weeks. The new Notebook pages are being written, and I'm doing whatever preparation I can ahead of the core period of the 2010/11 National Hunt season. So watch this space folks.

Contribute to the PLOG
Ultimately I don't want the PLOG to end up with just me writing something every so often, I'd like to include some content from site visitors as well. Send me your opinion on this PLOG - or anything to do with jump racing, your mails don't necessarily have to be about PLOG content. Either way, email roy@rwsteeplechasing.co.uk. You can also get in touch with me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jumpracing

© Roy Waterhouse
2010

'The Meal Deal'