WA fast bowler Piepa Cleary receives six-month ban as CA clampdown on players betting on cricket continues
WA teen cricketer banned for anti-corruption breach
A 19-year-old female cricketer has been banned for six months for placing six bets worth a total of $15.50 on cricket.
Western Australia and Perth Scorchers player Piepa Cleary was charged with breaching Cricket Australia's Anti-Corruption Code and admitted laying the bets on the third Commonwealth Bank Test between Australia and New Zealand played under lights at the Adelaide Oval in November.
Cleary was given a 24-month ban, of which 18 months are suspended.
She becomes the second female player charged this summer, after ACT Meteors and Sydney Sixers player Angela Reakes was also hit with a 24-month ban for placing five bets worth $9 on the Cricket World Cup final.
Reakes had her entire sentence suspended but with Cleary, CA "found there were aggravating factors that necessitated the suspension", the governing body said in a statement.
"This included the fact that Cleary received face-to-face anti-corruption training from CA Head of Security Sean Carroll just two months before placing the bets," the statement said.
The penalty means Cleary - who last year travelled to Dubai with the Australia women's team developmental squad, the Commonwealth Bank Shooting Stars - cannot participate in cricket in any capacity for six months, other than CA anti-corruption education or rehabilitation programs.
Head of the CA Integrity Unit Iain Roy said: "We continue to remind all elite cricketers and officials that betting on any form of cricket is strictly prohibited. It is outlined in the Anti-Corruption education that we deliver annually and is written into our Anti-Corruption Code.
"Piepa has heard this message many times through the anti-corruption education sessions that we deliver and accepts that in placing the bets she exercised poor judgment.
"Bets totalling $15.50 might seem small but it doesn't matter. We take a zero tolerance approach to any form of gambling on cricket by players in order to protect the integrity of the game.
"It has been made very clear that if Piepa breaches the code in any way again she will receive a significantly lengthier suspension."
WACA CEO Christina Matthews said: "Piepa will have to work hard to regain some respect from this incident, but she remains an important member of WA cricket and has taken responsibility for her actions."