The Long View is on the money.

I have just been listening to Radio 4's The Long View ( repeated tonight at 21:30) that this week centered around cricket's recent betting scandals and the parallels with old time prize fighting. The program broadened out to look at the relationship between sport and gambling in general and how the Victorian distaste for betting led to the establishment of amateur sport. It's unusual for the media to be so well informed about the Prize Ring but in one time Olympic athlete and now sports academic Peter Radford they found someone who is a genuine expert. One interesting comment from Radford was that the introduction of the Marquess Of Queensbury Rules had less to do with reducing the level of brutality in the ring and everything to do with ensuring that the punter could wager with confidence. Sport, class, and the relationship with gambling is a fascinating subject and one that needs to be given a bit more of an airing if our opinions on straight and crooked sport are to get beyond tabloid journo level.