Cricket Betting: a Brief Introduction

What is Cricket betting?

Cricket is arguably the biggest sport in Australia. Cricket fans can watch the game live on TV and stream it online. There is a huge following for the national test side and one-day tournaments have huge interest.

Australian cricket fans also have the opportunity to place bets on their favourite sport. The wide selection of bookmakers and ways to do this are almost limitless. Cricket fans can take advantage of some fantastic promotions and betting markets to further enhance their enjoyment.

How to place a cricket bet

Any cricket follower wanting to start betting needs to choose a bookmaker. There is a huge number of betting sites and all will offer cricket as a betting option. Choosing a sportsbook is very much a personal choice. It depends what is of most importance; the new customer welcome bonus, the usability, number of cricket betting markets or perhaps a familiarity with a certain brand. Once a bookmaker has been selected the customer will need to create a new betting account with them. This is a simple process of entering some personal details.

When the betting account is set up, the customer can then take a look around the cricket betting options. Bookmakers differ in terms of what is available to bet on and what betting facilities they offer, nevertheless the way in which a bet is placed is usually very similar.

The customer needs to ensure they have deposited adequate funds into their betting account. They then need to find what they want to place a bet on, As a very simple example, the customer can place a bet on which team will win a test match. This is known as a market.  There are many markets available to place a stake on. The odds on offer will be displayed next to the markets and so any return can be calculated. 

Once the customer is satisfied with the selection they should then tap or click on the odds which are then added to their bet slip. This will be visible on the betting platform. The stake is then entered by the customer and the bet will be placed. The customer then waits for the conclusion of the test match to see if the bet was successful. 

Cricket betting markets

As discussed there are a huge number of cricket betting markets. These will vary depending on which sportsbook is being used and the odds may also fluctuate. 

Cricket betting is offered on most, if not all of the biggest and best cricket tournaments from Australia and also around the world. Cricket is huge in Asia, especially in India and also in the UK and Australian fans will have the opportunity to bet on all of these cricket festivals. 

Australian cricket fans have long enjoyed watching the Ashes against England as well as the one-day internationals that follow the tournament. In Australia, the Big Bash League (BBL) has an ever-growing fanbase due to the fast and pacey nature of this format of the game. In the UK they also have a version of BBL called the T20 bash whilst India host the IPL (Indian Premier League). There are regular international test matches and also newer formats of the game known as the one hundred ball, not to mention the ICC world cup.

All of these cricket formats will be given betting markets and so customers can explore what is available to suit their betting requirements. Some of the most popular markets include;

Win-draw-win

A bet is placed on whether the home team win, the away team win or if the match will finish in a draw.

Draw No Bet

This market is different to just picking the winning team. This can be explained by using a cricket fixture of Australia v England in a test match. A draw no bet is placed on Australia. If Australia win the test match then so does the bet. If England win the match then the bet is lost. However, if the match finishes in a draw then the stake is returned.

Double Chance

The double chance bet offers the punter the opportunity to choose 2 of the 3 possible outcomes from win-draw-win. In return, the odds will be much lower.

In-Play

Betting whilst in-play means the customer can place a bet whilst the cricket match is being played live. It is also known as live betting and the markets and odds will change whilst the action unfolds. In-play can add real excitement to online betting. 

Total bets

Bookmakers will offer total bets on individual batsmen, bowlers and teams. They will set an amount of total runs, boundaries scored by a player, number of wickets taken and the punter needs to bet over or under the bookmakers’ amount. 

Method of dismissal

There are many ways a batsman can be given out. There are betting markets on a player being given out by LBW, bowled, caught (and by who), run out or stumped.

Player and team specials

Punters can place a bet on individual markets such as how many wickets a bowler will take in the first innings or how many catches a wicket-keeper will take. There are also markets on how many wickets will be lost by lunch on a particular day.

Cash Out

Cashing out a bet is where a customer has placed a bet however the match isn’t looking like it is going the way the punter believed it would. The bookmaker may offer the opportunity to cash out early which means taking lower winnings than if the bet is left to the conclusion of the match. Not all markets are given this option.

In Conclusion

Creating a strategy is often a good way to go about placing bets on cricket. Studying form and individual player attributes such as recent performances will go a long way when deciding where the value odds and markets are. 

With the ever-increasing exposure of cricket, especially from around the world, the bookmakers will strive to keep up and there will always be betting options available.