Cricket Bets

With games being played all the time, there are more ways to bet and games to wager on than ever before. As well as outright tournament, series and match odds, there is a wide range of in-game bets and specials. While the World Cup, the ICC Champions Trophy or the T20 World Cup get the most attention, and with it the most betting opportunities, bookie offers and markets, bookmakers are offering odds on cricket matches at every professional level around the globe.

While there are not as many markets going in cricket betting as in other sports such as football or golf, punters still have a wide range of opportunities to make a profit. The following are the most common cricket markets, and while not all of them will be offered for every match, the majority will be available for big international tournaments, Test series and domestic competitions such as the T20 Blast.

Outright Betting

The simplest of all markets, the punter has to select the team they think will go on to win any given tournament. On the international scene, the World Cup, the World T20 Cup and the Champions Trophy are the big ticket events, while the County Championship, T20 Blast and the One-Day Cup are the major domestic tournaments in England. The Indian Premier League and Big Bash league in Australia will also receive outright odds and plenty of interest.

With outright betting, it is best to check the form book. Australia are dominant on the one-day scene and have won five World Cup titles, including four of the last five editions, so they will get very short odds while other competitors will be priced as outsiders.

Yorkshire’s pedigree and recent County Championship successes likewise makes them clear favourites, which the odds will reflect. The World T20 Cup, contrastingly, has been played six times and had five different winners, so while odds will be more competitive, it will be more difficult to pick a winner with any degree of certainty.

Series Winner/Correct Score

Series betting refers to a group of matches played between national teams in the same format; for instance, the Ashes summer tends to include a Test series, a one-day international series and a T20 series. Customers will simply bet on which team they think will win the series, with a draw being the other option. To lengthen the odds, punters can bet on the exact series scoreline, for example betting on England to win a series 4-1 or 3-0.

There are a few factors to consider when betting on a series, but the most important are form, stature and location. The likes of England, Australia and India will usually be the favourites when playing other nations, but form can have an impact if one of the bigger nations is at a low ebb, or another nation has put together a string of fine performances.

Home advantage has a major effect on the odds due to the nature of the wicket, especially in the five day game. The track tends to be fast and bouncy in Australia or the West Indies, spin will prevail on the Indian or Sri Lankan pitch, and the English wicket favours swing and seam bowling. Teams that the wicket suits will have the advantage, and will be given shorter odds accordingly, with away wins increasingly hard to come by, especially in Test cricket.

Match Odds

The match odds market concerns the outcome of just one match, be it in a series or a one-off game. Punters select who they think will win, with a draw and a tie being the other options.

There is an important difference between a draw and a tie; the former, which occurs quite frequently in a Test or first class match, is when at the close of play on the final day the four innings have not been completed.

A tie can come about in any form of the game, and occurs when both teams have scored the exact same number of runs at the close of play. There have only been two ties in the history of Test cricket, so it mostly applies to the shorter formats. Ties will be decided by a bowl-off or a Super Over, more commonly the latter, but a bet on a tie will usually be classed as won no matter the outcome of any subsequent deciding factor.

Top Batsman/Bowler

The top batsman/bowler market entails betting on which batsman will score the most runs or which bowler will take the most wickets. The markets are available for an entire series or a single match, though in Tests and first-class cricket the top batsman or bowler in a game is adjudged based purely on the first innings.

The top batsman/bowler markets can also be refined to within the team, so punters bet on which batsman will score more runs than their team mates, or which bowler will take the most wickets for their side. The specialist batsmen and bowlers will receive the lowest odds for the respective markets but looking at previous performances at a given venue or a certain type of wicket and also against the opposition in question may help you uncover some real value lower down the betting.

Fifty/Century to be Scored

There are two markets concerning the possibility of a fifty or a century being scored: bookmakers will most often offer odds on whether any player on either team will score a fifty or a century during the match. The odds are longer for T20 matches, in which batsmen tend to hit out and get out quickly, while fifties are standard and therefore do not command long odds in Test matches. Some bookmakers will offer odds on individual players making either milestone during the course of a match as well.

Most Fours/Sixes

Boundaries are a staple in cricket, with fours and sixes likely even in Tests and a certainty in the shorter forms of the game. In limited overs games, they are paramount to teams’ hopes of winning. Bookmakers offer odds on the number of boundaries that will be scored during a match, with customers betting on which side will score more fours or sixes. On some occasions punters can even bet on the number of fours or sixes a side or an individual batsman will score.

Other Cricket Bets

The aforementioned bets are the ones placed most often, and though few customers deviate far from the outright markets, there are a number of more niche bets and specials that pop up with some bookmakers. The following odds are not always available with every bookmaker, but can be found occasionally and offer a short-term, in-game betting opportunity or a match bet more specific than the typical outright options.

Batsman v Batsman

Some bookmakers offer ‘Batsman matches’, in which the customer wagers on which of two batsmen, one from either side, will score the most runs. The batsmen chosen for the matches are usually evenly matched, and so extenuating factors for a good score such as home advantage or good form should be taken into account.

Highest Opening Partnership

Not too dissimilar to the ‘Batsman matches’, the customer is asked to choose which side’s opening partnership will score the most runs. The bet is on the partnership itself, not the two opening batsman, so the number of runs scored before the first wicket falls is counted.

Team of Top Batsman/Bowler

A simple choice-based bet, in which the punter chooses the team which the top scoring batsman will be playing for. Likewise for the top bowler, the customer guesses which team the bowler who takes the most wickets will be on. In Test matches the bet applies to the first innings each side plays only.

Number of Run Outs

The punter is asked how many run outs there will be during the match. Batsmen can be run out off a wide or a no ball, though stumpings do not count as a run out. Bookmakers will rarely ask for a precise guess; a choice of over 1.5 or under 1.5 is most common. However, some bookies may offer the chance to make more specific predictions with correspondingly long odds.

To Win the Toss

Punters bet on which side will win the toss before the match. As there are only two options and it is entirely down to chance, the odds do not tend to vary much at all. Nor, it should be noted, will they ever offer any sort of value.

Specials

Specials and niche odds are only available at some cricket-specialist bookmakers, but are a good way of making an extra profit off as little as a single delivery. Some bookies will offer odds on the outcome of the first ball of the match, from a dot ball to a wicket or a six, the method of the first dismissal of the game (caught, bowled, run out and so on), or who the first man out will be.

Because a tie is exceedingly rare, bookmakers tend to offer the possibility of a tie as a special, rather than part of the outright odds.