Cricket Australia has held breakthrough talks with unregulated offshore bookmakers as it races to head off match-fixing concerns amid signs more than $3 billion could be bet on this season's Big Bash League.

The Twenty20 cricket tournament, which has reached its midway point, looks to be on track to smash last year's figure of $2.2 billion wagered on the regulated market as punters increasingly flock to their phones to place bets over the five-week tournament.

The Twenty20 cricket tournament, which has reached its midway point, looks to be on track to smash last year's betting figure of $2.2 billion wagered over the five-week contest. Credit:Getty Images

But behind the scenes the national cricket body, backed by the Australian Federal Police and the Victorian Sports Integrity Intelligence Unit, has held its first discussions with several offshore operators that are thought to be major players in taking bets on the BBL.

Sources close to Cricket Australia said it had held talks with the Philippines' based SBOBET and the Carribean-based Pinnacle Sports to better understand the level of wagers they have been taking on the Big Bash while also deciphering any suspicious bets in a bid to stamp out match fixing and corruption concerns.