Cricket Betting

The long version of cricket, known as Test Cricket, has been enjoyed since 1877, having grown out of earlier versions of the sport, developed as long ago as the 16th century. Two teams of eleven players engage in four innings, each side batting and bowling twice, in a contest that is played over a period lasting up to a maximum of five days. Test Cricket truly is a “test,” not only of playing ability but also of wills and endurance.

If cricket has often been overlooked among major sports for betting, it is at least in some part due to its prolonged format. In an age of fast food, high-speed Internet, and instantaneous communication via cell phone, its pace may seem too leisurely for a quick-paced society. Yet therein resides its appeal, too, for few sports offer such drama, at times bordering on sinister, and the very fact that the ultimate result hangs in suspension so long makes cricket unique as an in-running or live betting opportunity.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the world’s highest organising authority for the sport. It represents the governing bodies for cricket in ten nations: Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies, and Zimbabwe. One of the ICC’s missions is to expand the popularity of the sport, and it has done so by introducing a number of innovations.

Chief among the approaches being used toward this end is promotion of the One-Day International (ODI) format. ODI Cricket has been around for almost half a century, and thanks to the efforts of the ICC and its members, this version now makes up the majority of games played by international teams. Shorter meetings, along with play conducted under the floodlights late in the day, has resulted in new interest, greater followings, and increased wagering.

In much the same manner, Twenty20 Cricket, another shortened version of the game that was introduced in 2007, is attracting new fans at the club level. It has also opened the door for more female fans, as the ICC Women’s World T20 has its own regular season and an annual Cup to play for.

The overall result of these moves has been a renewed interest in Test Cricket, including the introduction of an enormous selection of betting markets at sportsbooks, both online and off. Of all the options available, match betting appeals to national pride and provides the easiest access. Punters simply select the side they believe will win a match and wager at fixed odds.

A more exotic market is “Top Run-Scorer,” offering significantly higher odds on which player will be the top run-scorer for a team. In many cases, it is possible to select a combination of several batsmen and earn a good return when one of them comes through.

Other interesting and potentially lucrative betting options include Highest Opening Partnership and 1st Innings Lead. The former rewards bettors who can predict the opening partnership in either team that will reach the highest score. The latter, applied to test matches, requires picking the team that will obtain the highest score in the first innings. Some bookmakers offer anywhere from four to 20 markets per match.

Ante post wagering is also a popular form of cricket betting, especially for The Ashes, an historic rivalry between Australia and England played every 18 months that involves a series of five tests. Similarly, forward betting is heavy on the test series between South Africa and Australia, and it reaches a fevered pitch on the sub-continent when India takes on Pakistan.

The ante post wagering crescendo, however, is reserved for forecasting the outright winners of the annual ICC Champions Trophy and the quadrennial Cricket World Cup, which consists of preliminary qualifying rounds leading up to a finals tournament that is held every four years. It may surprise many to learn that the Cricket World Cup is much more popular than America’s highly touted Major League Baseball World Series. Indeed, it is the world’s fourth largest and most-viewed sporting event, right after the FIFA World Cup for football, the Games of the Summer Olympics, and the Rugby World Cup.