Cricket betting is becoming increasingly popular as fans from across the world seek to get more involved in the game.
You may not know this but cricket is the second-most popular sport in the world, behind football.
An estimated 2.5 billion people follow cricket, with football attracting 3.5 billion fans. Many of these cricket supporters come from Pakistan and India, but there are also huge followings in the United Kingdom, Australia and South Africa.
In this guide to cricket betting we will give you the cricket rules in short, explain the different bet types that we offer our players, and give you our best tips on how to bet on cricket.
Cricket Rules
When betting on sports, it’s vital to know exactly what you’re betting on and to do that, you should know the rules of the specific sport. Cricket rules may seem complex, but we’ll give you a short and easy explanation on how to play cricket.
Cricket is a bat-and-ball sport played in one or two innings on a field, with two teams of 11 players competing. Teams strive to score as many runs as possible in their innings, by either running between the wickets or hitting the ball to the boundary.
There are only ever two batsmen out on the field for the batting team, while all 11 players on the fielding team will be present. A bowler is selected to bowl one over of six balls, before another fielder bowls an over. Some forms of cricket limit individuals to the amount of overs they can bowl.
A team’s innings finishes when their allotted overs have expired or 10 of their players have been dismissed.
You can be dismissed in cricket by any of the following:
- Your shot it caught by a fielder without the ball bouncing first
- The bowler’s delivery hits the stumps behind you
- A fielder hits the stumps with the ball when you’re outside of the ‘crease’
- LBW — when the ball hits your legs during a delivery that would otherwise had hit the stumps
An innings can be limited to either time or a set amount of overs, depending on which form of the game you’re playing.
In international cricket there is:
- Test cricket — Lasts up to five days, with two innings per team and no specific over rate
- One Day Internationals — One innings of 50 overs each, lasting one day
- Twenty20 cricket — Each team has one innings of just 20 overs each
In domestic cricket there is:
- County Championship (UK) — Lasts up to four days, with two innings per team and no specific over rate
- One Day Cup — One innings each of 40 overs each, lasting one day
- T20 Blast — Each team has one innings of just 20 overs each
Whichever team has scored the most runs after their respective innings have finished, they are the winner.
Cricket Betting Tips
Betting on match odds is the most popular and common type of cricket betting. This includes both the 1X2 betting model and Head to Head (H2H). When betting on the 1X2 betting model, you simply place a bet on the home team to win (1), the teams to draw (X), or the away team to win (2). Betting on Head to Head decreases the number of potential outcomes to two, as you bet on either one of the teams to win. If the game turns out to be a dead heat (draw), the dead-heat rule applies, where the pay-out will be calculated after the odds are divided and multiplied by the stake.
Here at Unibet, we also offer Double Chance betting and Draw No Bet – Match Odds betting to our players. In Double Chance betting, you win on two possible outcomes and you can bet on 1X, X2 or 12. When betting on Draw No Bet – Match Odds, you will get your stake back if the game ends in a draw.
Before every game there’s a coin toss on which team will bat first. To bet on the Toss Winner is another popular bet type within cricket betting, where you simply bet on who you think will win the coin toss pre-game.
Besides the different bet types that we’ve mentioned, you can find a bunch of other betting models to bet on, such as Totals, where you can place a bet on over/under Total Runs, Total 4s-6s, Total Run Outs, Total Wides, Total Opening Partnership and a lot more.
Outright betting on Top Bowler or Top Batsman are also popular choices when it comes to cricket betting, along with betting on the Correct Score.
Tournament and season bets
At Unibet we strive to give you the best access to the biggest tournaments on the planet. And that’s why we’re dedicated to offering tournament bets and season bets throughout the year.
Tournament bets including betting on the winner of the Cricket World Cup, the T20 World Cup and the Women’s County Championship. These are outright bets, where you simply back the team or country you think will win the competition.
Series bets are slightly different. Outside of the major tournaments, international cricket is conducted via a number of arranged series between different associations. A team will tour a country, such as England in India, and various series will be arranged. So, England may play a six-match ODI series in India, before competing in a five-match Test series, and then face off in a seven-match T20 contest.
Series betting on cricket is good for fans who like to take the long view of the sport. Cricket is a patient game at times, especially in Test format. And therefore series odds can swing massively as teams win and lose certain matches.
Cricket live stream and betting
Here at Unibet we offer loads of cricket live stream and betting opportunities for players who want to get even closer to the action. Depending on the series or tournament, you may be able to live stream cricket and bet in-play with our sportsbook.
In-play betting while watching the match is an excellent way to thoroughly immerse yourself in cricket and stay one step ahead of the action. Being able to follow the matches on your computer, smartphone or tablet will help you understand the intricacies of the game more thoroughly.
We offer in-play odds that change during matches, so if there is a big wicket you can expect the batting team’s odds to widen dramatically. But equally, if two batsmen appear to have struck up a high-scoring partnership, then their side’s odds on winning will shorten.
You can also bet on individual players during matches, such as the best bowler or the highest-scoring batsman. Many cricket betting fans like to back bowers, as each wicket they subsequently claim sees the odds in that market fluctuate hugely.
What are The Ashes?
The Ashes is a unique cricket series that takes place in Test format between England and Australia every two years. The two nations have competed for the Ashes since the 1880s, with a five-match Test series the required standard of play.
England and Australia have each enjoyed their own spells of success in the Ashes. England dominated when the series began in the late 1800s and early 1900s, and again in the last-1950s. But Australia enjoyed the biggest period of success when they went undefeated in the Ashes from 1989 to 2003. Only in 2005 did England end that superiority.
The Ashes in England take place during the British summer, and take in some of the most historic grounds in the UK. That almost always includes Lord’s Cricket Ground in London, as well as The Oval.
As for Australian series, they play during the Southern Hemisphere’s summer, so series take place between November and January. Traditionally, the Boxing Day Test will held at Melbourne’s 100,000-seater MCG stadium, while the Sydney Cricket Ground hosts the New Year Test.
Betting on the IPL
The biggest domestic tournament in global cricket is the Indian Premier League. It is a T20 tournament that attracts the best players from all over the world to compete in India’s huge stadiums.
Teams bid for the right to sign players, with thousands of pounds being paid out to attract the best stars on the planet.
The IPL season takes place between March and May each year, with eight teams competing in the tournament. There is an initial group stage, which then turns into a knockout competition once every team has played each other home and away.
Rajasthan Royals were the first team to win the IPL back in 2008, when they beat Chennai Super Kings by three wickets in the final.