Cricket is a team sport with a huge following. This is due primarily to the high popularity of cricket in India, where more than a billion people live, and thanks to Indian fans, according to some sources, cricket is the second most popular sport in the world after football. Matches take place all year round and the betting opportunities are almost endless.
Popularity and rich history
The first information about cricket dates back to the 16th century, when the British were already practicing a similar sport using a ball and a flat bat. The expansion of the British Empire into remote regions of the world led to the spread of this discipline in new countries. True, then its development slowed down, and now cricket is not very popular outside the former British colonies.
Cricket betting is a multibillion dollar business in Asia, Australia and surrounding countries, Britain. The biggest markets are high-profile test matches between national teams and T20 games in the Indian Premier League. Roughly 70 percent of cricket bets are made live.
In search of the perfect timing
Mainly today, there are three cricket formats: first level cricket, one-day matches and T20 (“twenty”). At the first level, meetings can last 3, 4 or 5 days; test matches between national teams and national championships are held in this format. It is the slowest form of cricket and is often played in heavy tactical combat.
The fastest and most spectacular regulation is T20, where the matches do not drag on for a long time. The G20 is gradually gaining more and more popularity around the world, with only two innings (one for each team’s attack) to complete the match, and the average meeting time is three and a half hours.
One-day matches (One Day International, or simply ODI) are the golden mean. In these matches, the teams try to find the winner within one day, and the game is generally limited to 40 or 50 overs.
A little about the rules
Similar to baseball, in cricket, players try to hit the ball after the defending team serves, but other than that, there are not many overlaps between the two sports.
Matches are played between two teams – 11 players on each side. The field has a rounded shape and can vary in size, but in the center there is always a circle with a diameter of 20 meters (“pitch”), where all the main actions take place.
Two teams take turns hitting or serving the ball, one serving bowler and ten outfield players are on the field at the same time on the defending side, and only two batsmen hitting on the field, one on opposite sides of the pitch, in attack.
The attacking player tries to get as many runs – “runs” – in the “over” allocated to him (there are six bowler innings in one over), or until he is out-of-bounds by the defense. The batsman tries to deflect the shot so that the ball reaches the edge of the pitch or travels far enough away from opponents to allow the batsman to run over to the other side of the pitch.
If successful, and if certain other conditions are met, the batsman’s team will earn wounds. At the same time, the fulfillment of certain game conditions – the capture of the ball by the opponent before touching the ground, the destruction of the batsman’s wicket, and others – takes the batsman out of the game.
The team’s attack, the so-called innings, continues until the 10 batsmen of the battering team are removed from the game, after which the rivals change roles.
Types of cricket bets
At the end . In level 1 cricket there is a draw, so the odds for the outcome in test matches are three-way. A draw is not as common as in football, but its likelihood is relatively high and comparable to that of hockey. In the one-day format and twenty, bookmakers offer two-way outcomes without the possibility of a draw.
Double chance . It is the same as in betting on the outcome, only in a double chance two outcomes can be summed up for a lower coefficient – for example, that there will be no draw or that one of the teams will at least not lose.
Head start . Here you can predict with what advantage the team will win or more than what handicap will not yield to the opponent. For example, zero handicap is very popular in test matches between strong teams.
Totals . A bet on the number of runs per match or for a separate segment – after 5, 10, 15 overs, and so on. These can be both general totals and individual totals for each team.
Player statistics . In the top-tier cricket lines, as a rule, there are enough proposals for the personal achievements of the players. The indicators are very diverse: the number of wounds or 6-point strikes, various titles at the end of the match – the best batsman or the best player in the meeting.
Match statistics . Cricket is rich in various statistics and secondary events. It will not be difficult to find quotes for the number of run-outs or the best result of the first partnership in the lines for large matches. Also, many offices offer to bet on how the first gate will be destroyed.
At the first innings . Quite a popular betting market in protracted test matches, because you don’t have to wait several days to find out the result of the first innings. All of the above types of bets can usually be found in the first innings line.
To the draw . The most primitive prediction that can be made by bookmakers at all major matches. The odds of guessing the attacking first team are 50/50, and you will still lose money on betting margin if you play long.
Attention to conditions as the key to success: important about betting strategy
The best cricket forecasters have a real nose for valuable odds, mainly due to their unique betting strategy. There are several approaches to the analysis of a match, regardless of its format. Let’s highlight 5 main factors that need to be considered when choosing a cricket bet.
Draw results . In cricket, the turn of attack is determined by a simple toss of a coin. This procedure actually has a big impact on the outcome of the meeting.
The team attacking first in a test match often gains an advantage, as it makes the first attack on a fresh field with a new ball (in cricket, balls are not changed, as in baseball, at the slightest sign of wear, doing this only after 80 overs).
For a batsman, for example, it is easier to hit the ball after bouncing off a flat, unworn section of the field. Therefore, the attacking first team has more opportunities for a starting dash and seizing the initiative in the game. This is one of the reasons why some professionals in cricket betting like to play live, waiting for the results of the starting draw and thereby excluding one of the uncontrollable factors.
Weather conditions . It is difficult to name a sport more dependent on external conditions than cricket. Weather can have a big impact on a test match, especially its duration (cricket is not played in the rain), so a player should definitely check the weather forecast before placing a bet on cricket.
If rain is promised, the importance of the results of the draw increases significantly in the context of the shortened playing time. In the same England, during a 5-day test match, you will most likely encounter rain, and in this case, you already need to think carefully about how much playing time will be lost.
In some countries the sun sets earlier than in others, and there are not many opportunities to replenish playing time (test matches are played only in natural light). Somewhere in Sri Lanka daylight hours may simply not be enough to finish the game for several hours lost due to rain, while in England the sun sets late, and at eight o’clock in the evening the teams may still be on the field.
Field factor . In different areas and at different stadiums, the pitch coverage, where the main action takes place, can be different – from the ground surface to a very short and longer lawn, and the coverage can also change at the same stadium from season to season, depending on the care.
However, trends still exist, and, for example, in Cape Town or Adelaide, slow pitches prevail, where the ball accelerates less after hitting the ground, and it is easier for the batsman to make a decent hit. In some cities like Perth, Australia, the coverage is “faster”, and power bowlers appear in all their glory, and the offensive work is difficult.
You also need to pay attention to cities and stadiums with traditionally high / low humidity or relatively high altitude arenas – in low humidity and thin mountain air, the ball flies faster on average, so it is easier to make a valuable 6-point shot out of bounds. Dry courts are also loved by bowlers who survive by spinning the ball.
Some pitches tend to wear out faster over the course of several days of a test match. In conditions of an imperfectly even pitch, the bowler gains the advantage, and the batsman has a harder time deflecting the blow due to the more unpredictable rebound.
It is normal to score 400 points each in the first three innings, and drop to 150 in the fourth. Therefore, bets on “total less” in late innings can be beneficial, because the line does not always adapt perfectly to changing conditions of the game.
Like football, there are teams in cricket that do well at home. The management of these clubs or national teams is particularly successful in preparing the pitch and forming the squad ideally suited to the conditions of the home stadium, where the strengths of the players are shown better and the weaknesses are fading into the background.
Form of teams and players . The factor of the state of the teams coming up to a particular match must not be overlooked in any way. If in the big series the home team wins the first match, then it often goes through the next rivals with a skating rink, and the guests find themselves in a black losing streak on an unfamiliar alien pitch.
In betting on the statistics of individual players, the predisposition of an athlete to the current conditions of the game, his past form on a certain type of pitch, can be of decisive importance. Also, a good batsman can show stellar level not only on his favorite pitch, but also if such coverage is extremely inconvenient for the opposing team. We must try to summarize all the factors and do not forget that two teams enter the field, each with its own characteristics of attacking and defensive play.
The longer the match, the richer the live . Level 1 cricket matches last for several days, which makes live betting especially valuable. This is one of the few sports where a large layer of professionals prefers to play live.
These factors – the weather, wear on the ball and the field, the results of the draw and others – strongly influence the events of the match, and a player who closely follows the meeting all days is able to gain an edge over the line thanks to better information. Unexpected moments and sudden reversals in cricket often come as no surprise to experienced forecasters.
One of the popular live strategies is to watch when the ball changes. To do this, you need to closely monitor the overs – after 80 overs, a new shell appears on the field. A fresh ball has tight seams and is able to travel longer distances after contact with the bat.
However, the advantage in this situation can be gained not only by the attack, but also by the bowler, who relies on twists instead of direct serves. Tight seams allow the new ball to change trajectory more sharply in twisted serves, and this can be a problem for the batter.