Cricket player banned for betting on New Zealand

Piepa Cleary has found herself in hot water for betting on cricket. Photo / Getty

Six bets totalling A$15.50 on a men's international have cost Perth Scorchers WBBL player Piepa Cleary a six-month ban from all forms of cricket.

Cleary, 19, will also have a further 18-month suspended sentence hanging over her head after admitting to placing bets on the third Test between Australia and New Zealand at the Adelaide Oval in November.

Given the WBBL and WNCL have already concluded, it will only impact on Cleary's local grade cricket and winter training commitments.

The medium-pace bowler, who also represents Western Australian in the WNCL, will be forced to undergo anti-corruption education programs in the future.

Cleary is the second female player to be charged for placing small bets in the past two months, after Sixers WBBL legspinner Angela Reakes admitted to putting $9 across several markets in last year's Cricket World Cup final between the same two teams.

On that occasion, Reakes escaped with a 24-month suspended sentence, but this time Cricket Australia (CA) said the fact Cleary had undergone face-to-face anti-corruption training just months earlier warranted the ban.

"Bets totalling $15.50 might seem small but it doesn't matter," the head of the CA's integrity unit Iain Roy said.

"We take a zero tolerance approach to any form of gambling on cricket by players in order to protect the integrity of the game."

The Western Australian Cricket Association has confirmed that while they are disappointed in Cleary, she remains an important member of their squad.

-AAP