It was an eventful morning in the world of cricket on Thursday. And this had nothing to do with the aftereffects of Rohit Sharma’s incredible third double century in one-dayers on Tuesday.

It was the first day of the third Ashes Test at the Waca in Perth, which was hosting its final Test. England were facing a do-or-die situation to stay alive in the series. But even before a single ball was bowled, British tabloid The Sun had shaken everyone awake in the early hours of the day with its headline screaming out, “We smash plot to fix the Ashes”.

The tabloid alleged that two bookmakers had offered to sell its reporter details of rigged periods of play in the Perth Test. While no Australian or English players were named, the details in the report were enough for the International Cricket Council to announce that it was launching an investigation into the matter.

The cricket boards of Australia and England also acknowledged the allegations, while social media went into overdrive discussing the matter. However, a weird thing happened when coverage for the Perth Test began in the morning. Weird, if you’ve been watching television coverage of Indian cricket over the last decade, that is.

The Australian broadcaster, Nine’s Wide World of Sports, actually acknowledged the controversy. Live. On air. Not only did a television anchor read out the details of The Sun’s report but the CEO of Cricket Australia, James Sutherland, actually came on air to address the matter.

As the match began, Channel Nine’s commentary team, which includes former cricketers such as Michael Slater, Ian Healy and Michael Clarke, also went on to give their opinion on the big story. Like, really!

What the h*** was going on?

Isn’t the host broadcaster supposed to brush such controversial news breaks under the carpet?

That is what happened right after the huge Indian Premier League betting and spot-fixing scandal was broken in 2013 while the season was still going on. Broadcaster Sony went ahead with its match coverage as if nothing had happened. The commentators continued to scream their lungs out with “DLF maximum” and “Karbonn kamaal catch”, even as officials and players of two teams were being investigated by the police.

That is what happened when the whole Virat Kohli-Anil Kumble saga began days before the start of India’s campaign to defend the Champions Trophy in June this year. Media reports of a rift between the captain and coach kept popping out daily like in a popcorn vending machine but as the tournament started there was no mention whatsoever on air, even though it was an ICC tournament.

That is what happened again more recently during the India-New Zealand ODI series in October, when a sting operation conducted by television channel India Today was aired hours before a match in Pune showing the pitch curator interacting with reporters posing as bookies. When the coverage of the match began on broadcaster Star Sports’ channels it was business as usual, as the commentators, experts and anchors feigned ignorance on the controversy and discussed everything else under the sun, wearing cowboy hats.

Then what the h*** was wrong with Clarke and Taylor when they both said on air that they needed to see some evidence to back the claims of The Sun? What business was it of Channel Nine to invite Sutherland for a chat in the lunch break regarding a fixing controversy? Are they insane?! And has Cricket Australia too gone bonkers for allowing its CEO to address a highly controversial matter during the coverage of a match?

After years of watching cricket coverage in India where “the biggest story of the day” in the middle of a series is that of the captain getting married to a Bollywood star, this is all just too much to take. Perhaps, another Virushka story will cleanse our minds.