Shane Brain Drain - Again

[Donny]

How does he manage it !!??

Interesting trivia question: What's the record (in weeks) for Shane Warne to be out of the headlines for matters unrelated to cricket ?

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Warne Gambling Shock

By Ron Reed - Cricinfo

EVEN years after the Shane Warne-Mark Waugh bookie scandal, Australian cricket authorities were repeatedly warned of a worrying gambling culture within the national team and did not respond, according to a new book.

Unidentified casinos regularly offered Warne large amounts of "play money" with which to bet, with no requirement that he repay what he lost, it is claimed.

Another claim is that other senior players often asked for advances on tour fees so that they could pay their gambling debts.

The source of the "play money" allegation is former team manager Ian McDonald, who conducted the initial investigation into the scandal over Warne and Mark Waugh selling information to an illegal bookmaker.

McDonald is heavily quoted in the memoirs of his old boss, former Australian Cricket Board chief executive Graham Halbish, who was mysteriously sacked six years ago.

Halbish's book – Run Out: My dismissal and the inside story of cricket – will be launched tomorrow, throwing new light on the old ACB, now known as Cricket Australia.

McDonald also found himself sacked without warning soon after Halbish's sudden exit, with the board refusing to make public the reasons in either case.

In 1995, Halbish asked McDonald to investigate rumours that two players were dealing with Asian bookmakers betting on cricket, with Warne and Waugh admitting they had taken money from a bookmaker. The ACB fined them heavily but kept the incident secret for four years until it was uncovered by the media.

In the book, McDonald says: "Warne and Waugh both like a bet and it was more than likely they would both seek out a casino or racetrack anywhere they toured, in Australia or overseas. This incident happened in Sri Lanka but it could have happened anywhere.

"More than once, I tried to tell the ACB in years to come about the implications of the team gambling at casinos.

"These players were getting paid big money to play cricket. They were star sportsmen and they were associating with high-rolling gamblers.

"I know that at any time Warne walked into a casino he was offered thousands of dollars just to gamble.

"It was play money and he could keep any winnings. Warne is high-profile, but lesser-known players used to go there and get offers to gamble for nothing.

"I found it strange the ACB tolerated this."

McDonald does not actually say that Warne accepted the offers, but makes no suggestion to the contrary.

Halbish says that neither he nor McDonald believed Warne and Waugh were guilty of anything sinister, only that they had behaved foolishly in getting involved with the bookie.

There was no corruption involved, he says. In Warne's case, he had accepted a paper bag full of cash offered to him during a losing night at a casino in Sri Lanka.

"I felt no panic about this because it sounded about right if you knew these blokes," Halbish writes.

He adds: "I know of several others who have sought an advance on their tour allowances to fund their excesses on the punt."

[Sultan of spin]

I think those of us who follow shane closely already had a fair idea that this kind of thing was going on. When he did recieve the 10K from that bookmaker he promtly blew it all at the casino. Shane dosen't hide from that and opens talks about it in his autobiography.

[commonwombat]

He's not the only one with expensive gambling habits. The other participant in "Bookiegate" was into nearly every bookie in Sydney for sizeable figures, some for 5 figure amts. Whilst the cricket money was coming in, no worries but had potential to be v embarassin at best and v ugly at worst in the future.

Matters were by and large settled over the last yr by his other half who took FULL control of his financial matters. Whether this can be maintained is unknown but recent word around the traps seems positive. It is to be hoped this is the case. Thankfully for him, the media did not choose to act on what sniffs were going around town however his activities were well known in Sydney cricketing and racing circles.

[Presti35]

i thought i'd done something wrong for a minute!! phew!

[Donny]

Casino gave players money
By Robert Craddock
November 16, 2003

THE Australian cricket side was given free gambling chips by Melbourne's Crown Casino to repay them for patronising the venue, it was revealed yesterday.

A former Test cricketer, whose identity cannot be revealed, has confirmed Crown gave players free "play money" when they visited during Boxing Day Tests.

The player's story contrasts with claims by Crown spokesmen that "no one gambles for free at Crown".

Former Australian Cricket Board chief executive Graham Halbish has claimed in his new book, Run Out, that Shane Warne and other players had free money showered upon them by several casinos as part of a gambling culture which developed within the team.

No casinos were identified but the unnamed player confirmed yesterday that Crown dished out "play money" during the 1990s and said he would be surprised if it did not still happen.

The player said cricketers were given $200 worth of chips which were either lost or taken away once the player made a profit.

If a player had $100 on a blackjack hand and it won he would receive $100 instead of $200 if he gambled with the casino's "gift chips", which would be taken out of the profit.

"I reckon it was like an appearance fee," the player said.

"To have the Australian team anywhere you pay a fee and Crown gave them a reason to be there. It was an enjoyable way to use your appearance fee. They were saying 'thanks for coming'.

"If there was any profit for you they loved you to take it. If you lost the money and there wasn't any profit there were no problems because you had only used up their chips.

"I remember once when we lost our money they just gave us more vouchers. It was like monopoly money.

"It happened over a period of a few years but I would be very surprised if it doesn't still happen. I don't think there is anything bad about it."

Crown spokesman Gary O'Neill challenged claims his casino dished out play money to cricketers.

"I think people were aware that Shane Warne and other sportsmen in years gone by were either sponsored by Crown or were Crown ambassadors but that didn't involve people being able to gamble for free," O'Neill said.

"That is something I am not aware of. This idea of letting people gamble for free is nothing we have ever been involved in."

A Cricket Australia spokesman said players were permitted to bet at casinos "like you and I", but, under their playing contracts, were not allowed to bet on cricket.

The spokesman said, however, that under the players' new spirit of cricket pledge, they were aware their off-field conduct would be closely scrutinised and they accepted they were role models.

It was claimed in Run Out that some players received advances on their touring fees to pay gambling debts, but Cricket Australia officials said they had no knowledge of such events happening in recent times.