Rusty Aussies cost punters millions

Australia were beaten by a younger, fitter, brighter Zimbabwe outfit on Wednesday, according to Peter Roebuck in the Sydney Morning Herald.

The Aussies looked leaden. Not so long ago, Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist dominated a World Cup campaign. Here, they lost their wickets to poorly executed back-foot shots. Having played practice matches on firmer pitches, none of the Australians timed the ball sweetly, especially off the back foot. Ponting himself played an awful shot, a slog sweep that merely made matters worse. Perhaps the Australians had watched the opening match and thought every ball had to be dispatched into the stands. Certainly the batsmen did not adjust their games to meet the conditions. None of the Australian batsmen played county cricket this winter, and it showed.

Australia’s players weren’t the only ones looking sheepish after the match. Adam Hamilton writes in the Herald Sun that punters around the world lost tens of millions of dollars because of the upset.

"When the Aussies got into $1.01 we still matched more than $400,000. That's the shortest odds possible," Betfair’s Hugh Taggart said. "What's even more staggering is that a further $2.8 million was matched at $1.02. It's safe to assume there's more interest in Twenty20 than we first thought."