Two arrests in India suggest that even club cricket matches can draw the illegal interest of bookmakers. Indian media reported on Friday that two men were arrested for organising illegal online betting on games in the European Cricket League.

First-class cricket only resumed on Wednesday after the coronavirus hiatus when the first Test between England and West Indies started in Southampton. In Britain club cricket only started again on Saturday.

The European Cricket League, which organises T10 and T20 club competitions, resumed on July 1 with a tournament in Germany for local clubs. Competitions in Sweden, Cyprus and the Czech Republic quickly followed.

Indian police said that illegal bookmakers offered odds on their games. "Our team raided the house and found that a few people were betting over T20 cricket matches of European cricket league," an unnamed police officer told the Times of India.

The police said they seized mobile phones, laptops and papers showing the value of transactions. "Some of these betting syndicates can lead to corruption in cricket and it is being investigated whether participants in European cricket matches were involved in any corruption," Daniel Weston, Founder of the European Cricket Network said in a press release.

He added that his organisation was using "the latest in big data analytical software tools" to spot if cricketers were underperforming, wasting balls or giving away runs.