How to Bet on Cricket

Cricket is a sport that has primarily been popular in the Indian subcontinent, but it is also second only to football in terms of people who follow. Cricket betting skyrocketed in recent years. An average punter gets a large number of options to bet on cricket throughout the year. The sport, which began in the 16th century, has undoubtedly come a long way from its humble beginnings in England. The essence of the game has been retained all through these years. However, it has been refined as every year goes. The art of betting on this game involves a great deal aspect that every punter should understand and absorb before placing a wager.

Cricket Betting Odds Explained

A punter who is just starting in the world of online betting might be overwhelmed by the numbers in cricket betting odds. The idea conveyed by each odds would be alien to such newcomers, who would also struggle to grasp the concept of value in odds. However, it is easy to understand cricket odds and their meaning without too much trouble.

How to Understand Cricket Betting Odds

Bookmakers provide cricket odds as the probable chance of a particular event occurring in a game. For example, England is taking on Australia in the Ashes test series. A punter looking to back England for success in the event will find that a bookmaker is offering a price of 3/1 for this outcome.

This price effectively represents the implied probability for England’s success in the series. The two numbers in the fractional odds are used to divide one, which is later multiplied by 100. This gives a 25% probability of England’s success, according to the bookmaker. It is up to the punter to determine value – if Australia’s two key bowlers are unavailable and England team comes on the back of a 350+ score in a few of their last 10 test innings. This will help a punter conclude if the offered price represents value or not.

How Do Cricket Betting Odds Work?

The available odds for betting on cricket work in the same manner as they would in any other sport. A punter wants to back England for a victory at 3/1, and a wager of $10 is placed on the same selection. If England goes on to lose the game, there are no returns for the punter. However, they stand to get $30 ($20 plus $10 stake) if England ends up being successful. It requires a simple calculation to work out returns.

Profit = (Stake x Odds) – Stake

In the above example:

Profit = (10 x 4.00) – 10

Profit = $30

One need not excel at mathematics since the potential returns are displayed on the betting slip.

Main Cricket Betting Markets

It is quite common for punters to witness more than 30 different markets when betting on cricket matches. As one of the popular sports, cricket enjoys a specialist focus from bookmakers. The number of markets especially goes up when it comes to major tournaments like the Ashes Test series. During this period, it would not be uncommon to get more than 35 separate markets. Some of the popular choices are listed below.

• Match Result

  This is by far the most popular choice market amongst punters, who are expected to pick the winner of an encounter. On most occasions like one-day internationals and T20 games, there would be a winner. However, this may not be the case with test games where draws are a probability when poor weather conditions prevail. A large number of cricket betting tips primarily focus on this market.

• Outright Winner

  This market opens up during the case of tournaments and multination series. This common type is used to predict the winner of a tournament. A punter will be able to get a lot of value in the cricket match betting, but it is still much lower than what would be offered by outright markets – especially when placing the wager well before the start of the tournament.

• Highest Opening Partnership

  This provides an attractive market for punters since particular batsmen often struggle against some bowlers. Since many teams face emphasis on an excellent start to take advantage of any fielding restrictions, it is essential to get a good opening partnership. Most of the good batsmen are pushed higher up the order to get a good start, and the highest partnerships are an essential indicator of a team’s ability to post a high score.

• Man of the Match

  Just like in any other sport, individual players tend to give an extra impact on games that are typically to provide them with a ‘man of the match’ title at the end of a game. Such players are most likely to be batsmen who come up with a century or a quickfire half-century to help the team. Most cricket tips agree that it is a great idea to focus on all-rounders, who can pick up a couple of wickets. Some bowlers can deliver multiple wickets in a short spell, and they have a decent shout for the title.

• Number of Boundaries

  This is usually a market found in T20 games with a greater emphasis on scoring boundaries – sixes or fours. Punters can come across an individual or team matchups in this market, as some T20 teams tend to pack a long string of players capable of finding the boundary with ease. Yet, some sides tend to focus on limiting the opposition. Proper research of the ground will provide a lot of insights in this regard, as a shorter ground tends to produce more boundaries. There are places where high altitude causes the ball to lift and stay in the air longer easily. Once again, boundaries are conventional in such locations.

• Top Batsman/Bowler

  This market primarily applies to an entire tournament or series. Punters can also go with leading scorers or wicket-takers in just a single match. It is widespread to witness trends in this market. Hence, it can be immensely profitable for the punter. Most of the leading batsmen in a team tend to come in the top three positions of the line-up. Hence, a punter is not effectively picking from 11 batsmen. The trend is more pronounced in the case of limited-overs cricket. The top three positions also are quite rewarding due to the power play and fielding restrictions, helping batsmen score more goals in certain sections of the game.

Match Betting

Match betting is one type of arbitrage betting where gamblers will be guaranteed a small profit by placing a bet on different outcomes in the same match. This involves having an account with multiple bookmakers in such a way that at least one provider offers a free wager. This free bet is used to stake on one outcome, while funds cover the other outcome from the bookmaker. Since one of the two results will win in sports like tennis and cricket, there is an excellent opportunity for gamblers to get a guaranteed profit.

It is not recommended to go with a bookmaker, as odds would be in such a way that punters do not get to profit from this strategy. However, betting exchange sites like Betfair have odds put forward by other punters, and there is less of a bookmaker edge.

Best Cricket Betting Strategies

A punter needs to find betting opportunities that provide value to achieve success when placing a wager on this sport. Irrespective of the format, analysis needs to be done about the upcoming match to find out the value. Some factors are important when it comes to identifying value. They are:

Research Conditions

Cricket is immensely affected by weather conditions, unlike many other sports. The likes of football games will continue even during rain, but it is not possible with cricket. A cricket punter has to start with weather forecast research so that they can understand the conditions that would be expected. If heavy rain is predicted during a test match, it is likely to end in a draw considering the interruptions. A lot of play might be lost due to weather, but they can also tend to affect game patterns.

If overcast conditions are expected, it can be helpful for bowlers, who will be able to achieve more significant movement and swing. This makes life extremely difficult for batsmen, who are not especially fond of facing swing bowlers. It becomes difficult to predict a ball line, and wickets can fall in significant numbers.

Pitch has a high impact on a game’s results. If there are sunny and dry conditions expected for the game, it is likely to be conducive for batting. This is because a dry pitch reduces ball movement in such a way that batsmen do not have a lot of trouble judging the flight of the ball. Therefore, punters can expect a lot of runs. It also opens up another option of backing less number of wickets for bowlers.

A pitch that is also quite worn out can be tough to bat on. For example, test matches often become very difficult for batsmen towards the fourth and fifth days. However, bowlers start to make the presence felt during this period. If weather conditions are bright and sunny, captains tend to start a test match with batting on their side. A punter needs to predict this element to come out victorious in a bet.

Look at Player Statistics

It is possible to increase the chances of success by looking at a player’s statistics. Numbers like strike rate and average runs scored can provide a lot of detail about a batsman’s ability to make an impact in a particular match. Further, some players also tend to perform well on English pitches, whereas some players prefer subcontinent ones.

Due to a proliferation of sites providing online statistics, it is easy for a punter to know quickly if a batsman does well against spin or seam bowlers. One of the famous markets would be to back a batsman to score a half-century, but punters need to be aware if he has struggled against a particular type of bowling.

A player’s recent form has an immense significance, as cricket is a sport where players tend to go on spells of a weak or good run. Confidence has a huge role to play in a batsman’s ability to perform well on the pitch, according to batting tips cricket players receive. Apart from individual statistics, it also helps if a punter is on top of team statistics. Even if a particular cricketer has been playing well, the lack of form within his teammates will eventually end up showing in his outcome. A team that has begun a series with a big defeat would face a mountain to climb due to various factors like morale and confidence taking a hit. This is especially true when a team is on tour rather than playing at home.

Find the Best Odds

Every punter needs to get value in the odds that they receive from bookmakers. There is a strong need to scour the market for odds, as a poor price effectively means that a bookmaker is heading home with a profit that should have belonged to a punter. There are several bookmakers offering markets on cricket. Unlike before, it is not a tedious task to compare betting cricket odds to the proliferation of comparison tools.

A punter will find that odds are almost similar when placing bets on significant tournaments like Ashes or World Cup. Such highly competitive championships usually result in a large number of punters – new and existing – flock to a bookmaker. This is a period almost similar to a bonanza for sportsbooks, who tend to provide several special offers like free bets and enhanced odds. Even then, it makes sense to compare prices so that the best option is chosen at every instance.

However, there will be occasions when significant tournaments are not around. Bookmakers tend to offer varied pricing on markets like the method of dismissal, over/under, handicaps, and more. The prices tend to be lower, and there is less competition amongst bookmakers. Many of the sportsbooks would tend to skip on such offers. In such instances, it is imperative to shop around for the best prices.

Betting on Cricket Online

Multiple cricket tournaments would interest a punter, but they need to start with an understanding of the difference between domestic and international competitions in this sport. For those wondering ‘how to bet on cricket,’ there are three primary forms of this sport:

• Test games
• One-day matches
• T20 games

Betting on Test Cricket

Test cricket is one of the long-standing versions of the game, and each contest takes five days to complete. This provides punters with a lot of time to set up a solid betting strategy. Ten countries have eligibility to take part in test matches – India, England, South Africa, Australia, West Indies, New Zealand, Pakistan, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. In many ways, test matches are seen as the sport’s high point.

Each of them comprises of 15 sessions, and there must be 90 overs in each of the five days. Every day is split up into three sections – morning, afternoon, and evening. Due to the extended nature of this game, players have to adapt to several conditions. For example, the pitch may favor batting on the first day, but it may scuff up towards the end of the match. The wear and tear of the pitch could make life difficult for batsmen in the fourth and fifth days. Similarly, weather conditions can bring about a lot of uncertainty. The ball will swing and seam in humid and cloudy conditions.

Batsmen can also take advantage of a tiring attack, older balls, and overhead conditions to get a much bigger score on the board.

Every team has to adapt to such changing conditions to emerge successfully. These altering conditions also bring about substantial changes to gameplay, and this will be apparent even from one session to another.

Some of the popular test cricket matches happen to be the Ashes, Basil D’Oliveira Trophy, and Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The Ashes, which is one of the oldest big rivalries in cricket, is played between England and Australia. England also competes with South Africa for the Basil D’Oliveira Trophy, while it is the turn of Australia to kickstart the rivalry with England as part of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Betting on One Day Cricket

Even though T20 and one day (ODI) cricket are not seen as equals to test matches by purists, it enjoys remarkable popularity amongst general supporters due to the shorter version. The primary changes compared to test cricket are seen with the use of a colored ball and clothing. The addition of color brings about a more significant connection amongst players, supporters, and even television broadcasters.

Even though the International Cricket Council (ICC) has worked on various facets of ODIs, this version of the game largely remains the same. It is often played in day-night conditions (first innings would be scheduled in the afternoon, and the second innings would take place under the floodlights after a break). Each side is given just 50 overs, and there are many fielding restrictions placed as well. ICC has changed these fielding restrictions numerous times over the years to improve excitement levels. Now, there are fielding restrictions in the first and final ten overs of a game.

It is common to witness ODIs being played as a series, which commonly involves three, five, or seven ODIs. Apart from betting opportunities on individual games, they provide punters with possibilities in the futures market. Rather than just progress with nations, some ODI series tend to put three countries for a tri-series. Such tournaments usually end up with a play-off final. Unlike in test cricket, pitch conditions do not change dramatically from one to the other. Even then, factors like a coin toss and ground trend are to be closely watched. Weather can play spoilsport on one-day games just like in test games. Many live cricket betting opportunities are focused on this version.

Unlike test cricket, there are global tournaments in the ODI version – ICC Champions Trophy and ICC Cricket World Cup. Both these events attract tremendous interest from punters, and they also have a multitude of betting options.

Betting on T20 Cricket

T20 is one of the latest forms of the sport, and it has grown at a furious pace in recent years. The growth has been so high that many international teams have even dropped test matches and ODIs in favor of T20 games. As the shortest form of the sport, T20 is capable of offering excitement throughout a match. Even though there are fielding restrictions, the less number of overs (20) leaves little room for the risk, and teams end up much higher scores.

A punter looking to place a bet on these events will also have to consider fielding restrictions, which are in place for the first six overs. Ironically, they are meant to help the batsmen score as many runs as possible. A large number of boundaries are recorded in this version as only two players are kept outside 30 yards. There are five fielders held near the fence in the final 14 overs.

It is no secret that T20’s primary aim is to entertain the crowd. Hence, pitches are also made flat, and boundaries are kept short. Unlike test and ODIs, a different set of skills are required from cricketers looking to succeed in these formats. More players in T20 have been gaining recognition due to the growing popularity of the sport. Apart from several other facets of the game, scoring runs with a six, or a boundary are seen as a strong skill.

T20 has been able to penetrate weaker markets due to the excitement offered. Several annual tournaments are being held by almost every nation, and this presents a large number of betting opportunities. It takes a lot of information and research to succeed in T20 betting since many of the cricketers have become specialists in this type of event.

How to Bet on Cricket: A Simple Example

The concept of betting on cricket can be understood better by a simple example. Let us consider a game between India and South Africa in an upcoming test game. A bookmaker is providing prices of 3.75 for India’s success, while South Africa are given odds of 6.50 for the same outcome. The draw is also offered a price of 5.00. After analysis of the game, a punter estimates that India has a 40% chance of success.

A punter makes a stake of $10 on India. They stand to win $37.50 if India succeeds. If not, the stake is wholly lost. To protect their investment, punters can also go with a draw no bet market where the gamble is only on either team winning the game. The stake is returned if a draw occurs. Well, now you’ve learned how to bet on cricket.

We wish you good luck with your cricket betting!