Cricket Australia powerless to stop scalpers

No hiding place for under-fire Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland © Getty Images Enlarge

Cricket Australia has admitted that it is powerless to prevent scalpers from selling Ashes tickets on eBay, attacking the online auction site for refusing to take action off its own back.

James Sutherland, the board's under-fire CEO, lambasted people selling tickets, accusing them of "exploiting the public's passion for the game," and adding that he was "disgusted". He said that while eBay had been asked to help, "their response has been, 'It's not our problem'".

But while Cricket Australia was powerless to act, it seems that punters have taken matters into their own hands, deliberately sabotaging auctions for tickets. A quick check of the site showed that many of the sales had receiving grossly inflated bids from newly-registered members, a surefire sign that people were bidding with no intention other than to scupper genuine bidders.

A spokesman of eBay defended the company's position, saying: "We don't actually sell the tickets. We provide a marketplace where the buyers and sellers can transact."

Sutherland called for all sports to consider uniting to press for national anti-scalping legislation.

But while Cricket Australia has been slammed for the way it handled the ticket sales, it is laughing all the way to the bank. On the first day of sales, more than $13.5 million was handed over by supporters, and CA will take about 30% of that, with the balance going to the individual states.