Kevin Pietersen has admitted that he is not surprised by Cricket Australia’s (CA) claim that its emerging players are being targeted by corrupt foreign bookmakers via social media.
CA’s Head of Integrity Iain Roy confirmed that players on the verge of squads for the national team and Big Bash League (BBL) are being targeted via tools such as Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Pietersen, the former England international who is in Australia to play for Melbourne Stars in the BBL, said that he had never been subjected to such an approach during his career, but added: “Are we going to stop it? I don’t think we’re going to.
“Whenever there’s television the reality is it’s going to be there. But I think Cricket Australia does as good a job as any nation around the world in trying to combat it. They talk about how approaches are made – everything that goes on with it.
“So, if you are one of those players that gets approached and you make the stupid decision to go down the wrong avenue then you’ve just got to belt them away from cricket. It really irritates me, it annoys me. I practice as hard as I can … and I’ve got expectation to perform on my shoulders.”
