PUNTERS have splurged more than $600 million on this season's T20 Big Bash in an international betting blitz that has put cricket's anti-corruption police on their toes.

The Courier-Mail has obtained extraordinary figures which show punters on global betting giant Betfair had $573 million in bets on 22 Big Bash games before Tuesday night's match.

A range of other corporate and online bookmakers in Australia and around the globe have taken more than another $30 million in bets on Australia's domestic T20 competition.

News_Rich_Media: Melbourne Stars continued their dominance of the Big Bash League with a final over win over the Brisbane Heat.

But it is the volume of bets on Betfair, where punters can back teams to win or lose and bet live 'in-play' at any stage during matches, that is most staggering.

More than $20 million has been bet on all bar two of this season's Big Bash games with an astonishing $47.6 million wagered in the game in which Perth Scorchers beat Hobart Hurricanes in Perth on January 7.

To it in perspective, Betfair horseracing punters around the world only bet $6 million on last year's Melbourne Cup.

The Big Bash has become such big betting business that Betfair punters are going to games and betting in live markets from the grandstands so they can try to get an edge over a several-second television delay.

Live betting odds fluctuate wildly with every wicket and big hit in T20 cricket, so punters have an advantage if they are at games rather than watching slightly delayed TV coverage.

News_Image_File: Perth Scorchers played in the most bet-on Big Bash game with Betfair.

The incredible volume of Big Bash bets from around the world has cricket's anti-corruption police watching closely, given the sawn-off 20-over game is the most susceptible to fixing.

A CA spokesman said anti-corruption measures had been centralised and there were the same strict security measures in place for Big Bash matches as there were for international games.

For instance, there is at least one anti-corruption officer at each game and Big Bash players have to hand their mobile phones and communication devices in before play.

As part of new integrity systems, CA has also engaged an external bet monitoring company, Sportradar, to identify suspicious betting trends.

News_Rich_Media: The Scorchers have opened up a handy lead for second place on the Big Bash League ladder after a dramatic victory over the Sydney Sixers in a super over.

CA security manager Sean Carroll and integrity manager Iain Roy are the two men in charge of overseeing anti-corruption measures.

"While betting on sport is not new to our community, the increase in its popularity in recent years has seen us take significant steps to ensure we safeguard the integrity of our competitions," a CA spokesman said.

Twenty20 cricket has been shadowed by talk of corruption with several Indian Premier League cricketers including former Test paceman Sreesanth arrested last year.

The now defunct Indian Cricket League was constantly ridiculed for being a hotbed of corruption and the Big Bash has also come under the spotlight.

CA anti-corruption officers were last year closely monitoring spot-fixing allegations against former Hobart Hurricanes player Rana Naved which involved a Bangladesh Twenty20 tournament. Naved denied the allegations.

News_Rich_Media: Ben Dunk's knock of 96 and some hapless batting from the Sydney Thunder helped Hobart Hurricanes to a comfortable Big Bash League victory.

While Betfair is reporting by far the most significant bets, other bookmakers have reported a large increase in Big Bash wagers from previous seasons.

"Compared to last year, the turnover is up nearly 40 per cent and the number of bets is up 50 per cent,'' Tattsbet's Gerard Daffy said.

"We have taken more bets during each match, particularly on exotic bets like the top run scorers, so clearly people are watching the games."

Big Bash matches are screened live into the UK and the new free-to-air coverage in Australia, with Channel 10 paying $100 million for the rights for five years, has also led to an increased betting turnover.

Top 10 Big Bash games, in terms of total amount of bets placed with international agency Betfair:

Perth Scorchers v Hobart Hurricanes - $47,639,482.64

Sydney Thunder v Brisbane Heat - $42,816,051.28

Adelaide Strikers v Sydney Sixers - $40,455,253.34

Brisbane Heat v Sydney Sixers - $38,745,414.61

Brisbane Heat v Perth Scorchers - $33,634,902.66

Sydney Sixers v Sydney Thunder - $32,694,426.45

Perth Scorchers v Sydney Thunder - $30,280,822.03

Sydney Thunder v Melbourne Stars - $30,025,048.08

Melbourne Renegades v Melbourne Stars - $28,938,978.89

Adelaide Strikers v Sydney Thunder - $28,536,773.53

Originally published as Big Bash bet plunge has CA nervous