IT’S called the gentleman’s sport and has defined Australia’s summers for more than 100 years, making it one of the oldest and most famous sports on the face of the earth.
One of the most revered games, cricket in its current form was first played in the 18th century and not long after it was widely recognised as England’s national sport.
The popularity of the game in England led to its expansion into other countries under the ‘British Empire’ including Australia, India and South Africa.
Cricket is a game steeped in tradition, but the governing bodies have never been afraid to allow its sport to evolve.
Long being recognised outside the playing nations as a boring game; today the shorter forms of the game have turned cricket into one of the most exciting and unpredictable sports in the world.
Bettorsare spoilt for choice when it comes to wagering on cricket. This article will run you through everything you need to know to make the most of your punting dollar.
Cricket is a game three different formats, providing a great number of betting markets and different forms of entertainment for punters and fans.
The main countries involved in playing cricket in this modern era include England, Australia, South Africa, India, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and the West Indies.
What are the different forms of the game? And what are the best bets to make when having a punt on the cricket?
We’ll cover all the best betting information in our guide:
Best bookies to bet with on cricket
When having a punt on the cricket, we trust the following online bookies with our action. They have a great range of markets available on all forms of the game, as well as attractive sign up bonuses for new customers and on-going promotions to keep you playing with them.
WilliamHill.com.au
SportsBet.com.au
CrownBet.com.au
PalmerBet.com.au
Test Matches
The test match is the most classic, or pure, form of the game. It’s played over five days with each team traditionally playing two innings. Each team dresses in their traditional cricket whites and matches traditionally begin at 11am and end at 6pm, spanning 90 overs (or 540 deliveries) of play.
Test matches are a game of patience, tactics and strategy.
The following is a highlight from one of the most famous test match series in the history of the game – between rivals Australia and England in the ‘Ashes’ series of 2005.
Because the test match is a unique form of the game, it also has its own unique set of markets available to bet on. Here are some of the most popular:
Match betting: In test matches this is a three optioned bet between team A winning, team B winning or a draw.
Draw no bet: The head-to-head equivalent for test match betting.
Top run scorer: This bet can be made on players from each side, per innings. The player with the highest run score per innings wins.
Top wicket taker: Similar to the top run scorer. You can place a bet on which bowler you think will take the most wickets per side each innings.
Method of first dismissal: This bet usually has seven possible options:
Caught (not bowler)
Caught and bowled
Bowled
LBW
Run out
Stumped
Other
One Day International cricket
A one day game is often referred to as a day/nighter. Each side has 50 overs to score as many runs as possible. This is not as tactical and patient game like the test match.
Both sides stray from the traditional white clothes of test match cricket and wear their national colours. The colour of the ball changes from red to white and different fielder-placement restrictions also apply.
The following are highlights from the ODI World Cup Final between Australia and New Zealand in 2015:
Some popular markets to bet on in this format include:
Match betting: Essentially a head to head bet on who will win the match. There is no draw option given the unlikely nature of a draw in a one day game.
Top run scorer: Bet on who you think will be the top run scorer from each team.
Top wicket taker: Bet on who you think will be the top wicket taker from each team.
T/20 cricket
Twenty20 cricket has quickly become one of the most popular forms of the game. Similar to a one dayer, the format is based off both sides having just 20 overs each to bat. This produces a much faster, heavier attacking form of the game.
T/20 has evolved into a fun event and spawned national competitions and league’s all around the world.
The following video includes highlights from the 2016 T20 World Cup between England and the West Indies.
Some of the best domestic T/20 competitions around the world are:
Big Bash – Australia
Indian Premier League
Twenty/20 Cup – England
Caribbean Premier League
Some popular markets when betting on T/20 matches are:
First ball of the match: This bet has 10 possible options available:
Dot ball
1 run
2 runs
3 runs
4 runs
6 runs
wide
no ball
bye
wicket
Player to score 50: The bookie will nominate a number of players, say four, and give you an option on whether or not that player will score 50 runs or more.
Full International Cricket Council Members
Full members of the ICC not only are able to field a test side – a perk that is not afforded to teams outside of the top 10 – but they also gain direct access to play in both the One Day International and Twenty20 World Cups.
- Australia
- Bangladesh
- England
- India
- New Zealand
- Pakistan
- South Africa
- Sri Lanka
- West Indies
- Zimbabwe
The Major Cricketing Formats
Test Cricket: The longest and most traditional form, Test cricket is played across five days, with the winner the team that is able to score the most runs and take 20 wickets for the entire match.
One Day Internationals: The first ‘shorter form’ change to the game, ODI matches are played across 100 overs, with 50 per side. The matches are usually played across 10 hours and are typically played in a day/night timeframe.
Twenty20 Cricket: The shortest form of the game, initially Twenty20 was considered a joke – but after the popularity of the format exploded, T20 cricket has spawned numerous domestic competitions and a World Cup. Each team gets 20 overs each, and the match is played in a much shorter time frame to ODI, making it a much more easily digestible format.
Popular betting types in cricket
Most Runs Markets: The most runs market is one of the most self-explanatory options in cricket betting. All you have to do is pick the player you think will score the most runs (either for the overall match or for their team) and place your money on them.
Most Wickets Markets: Much like the most runs market, the wickets option is as easy as picking the player you think will take the most scalps in a match. You can pick the player to take the most wickets for his team alone, or the overall most wickets taker for the match.
Head to head: Pick which team you think will win the match. For example Australia might be $2.50, while England could be $1.90.
Cricket tournaments
Since the advent of Twenty20, the sport of cricket’s popularity has increased, which has lead to both a World Cup and several high profile domestic competitions. The One Day International World Cup has existed since 1975 and the Twenty20 World Cup was formed in 2007.
ODI World Cup
Played across 50 overs per team, the ODI World Cup is played every four years. All 10 full members are given direct access to the World Cup, while ten associate teams play off in a pre-tournament to make up the additional 10 teams – making 20 teams overall. Australia has been the most successful international team in the history of the tournament, with five wins since the inception of the World Cup. The English cricket team have never won the tournament, with their best finish a 1992 runner up performance in Australia and New Zealand.
Twenty20 World Cup
Even though the tournament has only existed in a significantly shorter time frame to the ODI World Cup, the T20 World Cup is arguably on par, if not more popular than its longer brother. The event has generally been held every two years, although there is a four-year gap between the next two scheduled tournaments. All ICC full members qualify automatically for the tournament, with the remaining places filled by other ICC members through a qualification tournament, known as the World Twenty20 Qualifier. The Twenty20 World Cup is the only international tournament that Australia has never been the champion of.
Indian Premier League(Twenty20)
There are domestic tournaments, and on the next level there is the Indian Premier League. The IPL was founded in 2007 and is played in the months of April and May of every year, giving the competing teams access to the best players in the world given international cricket is typically not scheduled on this date. The tournament has been a gigantic revenue raiser for India. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) reported that the 2015 incarnation of the Indian Premier League generated an incredible 11.5 billion (US$182 million) for the GDP of Indian economy.The IPL has the third highest weekly attendance rate on average for any sporting league around the world, with an incredible 95,250 fans patronising the three weekly games.
Australia’s Big Bash League (Twenty20)
The Big Bash League is Australia’s domestic Twenty20 tournament, and outside of the IPL has to be considered the most popular competition in this form of the game. Established in 2011, the tournament has grown throughout the years with the very best players drawn to Australia during the summer not just for the sun, but also to showcase their talents on the big stage. The BBL broke an all-time attendance record for a domestic competition in 2016, with 80,883 fans filling the Melbourne Cricket Ground for the match between the Stars and the Renegades. 2016 also saw the BBL jump into the top-10 most attended sporting events in regards to average crowds per season.
Australian betting bonuses and bookmaker promos
Australia has one of the most comprehensive array of bookies that you could possibly imagine. We spend more per head than any other nation on the punt. This means bookmakers clamour to get us to be with their brand and they do it by giving us a swag of promotion and cricket is right at the forefront of their plans.
Australian Signup bonuses:
Crownbet: One of Australia’s leading bookies and doesn’t disappoint on the bonus front. Get up to $600 free at 150%, meaning you can deposit $400 and receive a total of $1000 to bet with.
Sportsbet: Has been bought out by Irish betting company Paddy Power. They will match your first bet up to $501 dollars.
William Hill: Swallowed up local brands, Tom Waterhouse, Sportingbet and Centrebet, and are owned by UK interests. They give all new customers up to $700 in freebets after your initial deposit.
Tips on how to bet on cricket
Venues matter: Even though the sport is always played on a pitch and a grass oval, the venues in which they are played make a huge difference. In Australia the pitches tend to be significantly harder than in England, meaning visiting teams do not have much experience with the added bounce and pace that brings. Conversely, Indian pitches are a lot slower and offer much more to the spinners than they do in other countries.
Conditions matter: India typically has hot and oppressive summers, making it harder for teams that travel to India to play in their challenging conditions. England, which is often cloud covered, is known as a place where the ball swings which can prove challenging to batsmen who are inexperienced against the swinging ball. In Australia we often have seam friendly pitches.
History tells a story: It’s crazy how often history repeats itself in cricket. Some trophies have been historically dominated by a certain team, or have been dominated by the home team. It’s worth looking into before placing a real money wager.