Punters desert in-crisis Australian cricketers

IT has been a tumultuous time for the Australian cricket team since the ball tampering saga reared its head on Saturday night, and the punters aren’t expecting the visitors to rally in Friday’s fourth test at Johannesburg.

After the first wicket fell in the third test at Cape Town Sportsbet opened a market on the next test, but there has only drawn a single wager on the match.

Sportsbet has South Africa as the overwhelming $1.53 favourite for the fourth test, the shortest price any team has been this series.

The Australians are $3.55 outsiders while the draw is the least favoured result at $6.20.

Australia, who will at least be without captain Steve Smith for the fourth Test in Johannesburg starting on Friday, is expected to be well below full strength if Cricket Australia comes down as hard as expected.

Smith was suspended by the ICC after he was charged by the head of the governing body for “conduct contrary to the spirit of the game”.

Smith was charged by ICC chief executive David Richardson, fined 100 per cent of his match fee and given a one-test ban. He will have four demerit points on his record.

Sportsbet representative Christian Jantzen said the company isn’t expecting a slew of cash to roll in anytime soon.

“Markets for the Fourth Test opened as soon as the final wicket fell in Cape Town and we’ve only seen one solitary bet on Australia. Much like the general sporting public, punters have had enough of them,” Jantzen said.