There are plenty of opportunities to enjoy cricket betting with wide-ranging top domestic cricket competitions from the Big Bash to the Sheffield Shield and significant international events like the World Cup and the Ashes.
Helping you understand the nuances of cricket and its betting markets is the aim of this guide, as we look at some of the best cricket betting sites AU at which to wager!
1) bet365
2) Unibet
3) Ladbrokes
4) Neds
5) TAB
Cricket betting can certainly be varied. There’s a lot more to explore beyond picking the match-winner. Cricket has many aspects, from individual batsman efforts to Total Runs and even down to cricket prop bets like the toss winner.
The following is a list of popular markets which can be explored to piece together a cricket betting strategy.
The most basic and popular cricket betting market is simply nominating a team to win a particular fixture. Odds will vary from bookmaker to bookmaker for a match. Not much, but small margins mean a lot in cricket betting.
One of the popular props bets in cricket betting is the Toss Winner. This is just a 50/50 call on which team will win the toss, and the odds on either outcome are the same.
Throwing a couple of conditions together into one bet is the cricket betting Double Chance bet. The bet is an exciting selection which combines two of three possible outcomes.
An example could be ‘New South Wales Blues – Draw’, meaning that the bet would win if either result happened. Such a bet would be shorter odds than just backing ‘New South Wales Blues To Win”. The extra coverage comes with a sacrifice in lower odds.
The Top Batsman market for cricket betting is one of the most exciting. There are different ways to bet on a Top Batsman selection for a cricket match, selecting a team’s top scorer, the top scorer for an innings, or the overall match top runs scorer.
This simple cricket bet selection is whether a specific player will knock off a century in a match.
An opening batsman has one of the most challenging batting positions, taking on the hard new ball from pace bowlers. But the opening partnership is usually crucial to how a cricket match plays out.
With this cricket betting option, selecting which team will have the highest scoring partnership in the match can be taken.
On the opposite side of the Top Batsman cricket betting market, there is the Top Wicket Taker. Watching a side strive for a wicket in the match and seeing one fall delivers a big burst of excitement. Punters can select which player will finish the match with the highest wickets tally.
Sticking with the excitement of the bowling action in a match, there is the Team of Top Bowler market to consider. But, again, this boils down to a 50/50 chance.
It doesn’t nominate who specifically the top bowler is, but what team they play for. So backing the Sydney Sixers, for example, in this market, any bowlers that finish with the most wickets would see the wager win.
It is common to find the same format of wager for Batsman, making the call of which team the highest runs scorer will be representing.
Another shining example of the variety in cricket betting is the First Wicket market. This market asks for the correct prediction of how the first wicket in the match will be taken. For example, will it be an LBW, a catch, a stumping or a run-out?
There are 22 players involved in a cricket match, and punters can back which one will be named Player Of The Match. Bettors have to weigh up both batting and bowling options in this market.
Another of the more straightforward betting options to look at for cricket is the Total Match Boundaries. It’s a market with more appeal in limited-overs matches as big boundary hits are more common in the shorter formats. This market is a selection of which team tallies the most boundaries.
Another approach to cricket betting is to pull together different options to form a multi bet. For example, add some selections to the bet slip at Australia’s best cricket betting sites to create a bigger bet with more than one leg.
Combining options such as picking the winner of three different cricket matches, or even putting a cricket match result alongside an AFL and an NRL pick, will create a bigger bet.
Multi bets are popular because punters create them to make a play at some big winnings. However, as multi bets carry longer cumulative odds from each selection, they are riskier as all selections in the bet have to win.
Taking a broader view of cricket bets, the popular option is to back the winner of a series or tournament winner. An example of this is the famous Australia v England Ashes Series.
For that, punters pick the winning team or expand on that and plump for a winning scoreline in the best-of-five series.
Picking the tournament winner, say making a selection on the Big Bash winners before the new season, is another approach.
These longer-term cricket betting options see punters test their powers of predictions.
Other major cricket tournaments to explore for this kind of wagering are the Big Bash, the IPL, the T20 Blast in England, the Sheffield Shield, ICC Cricket World Cup and the T20 World Cup.
As with any sports betting, it is not just about picking the outcome you want. It’s about getting the best possible odds. The better the odds, the more returns in the profit column if the bet wins.
Cricket betting odds do vary from one online bookmaker to the next. Granted, these are not going to be dramatic variations. But even subtle ones make a difference. Looking around at different betting odds gives punters the chance to find the best odds available for a selection.
You may even get lucky and find a bookie that has underestimated the chances of your preferred selection, and you can snap up longer, more favourable odds. However, it is worth looking around as a punter, especially at early prices when there are generally wider margins on market selections.
Cricket betting tips are out there to take a look over. Some of the best cricket betting sites mentioned provide insights and tips in their blogs. So register with a bookmaker first and then start to look at tips.
While tips don’t have to be followed, they are super helpful for gaining further insights into a betting market. Maybe it sheds some light on any confusion or introduces new info you may have missed. An excellent source of cricket betting tips can be found right here, provided by our betting experts.
There is no single cricket betting strategy that will suit all bettors. One of the best approaches to coming up with one is to study the sport and its markets yourself. That will allow you to personalise a cricket betting strategy.
Understanding statistics, reading news, checking head-to-heads, and reading the form of teams and individual players, allows a punter to put together their way of betting on cricket.
Our experts pick out a few cricket betting strategy factors to look out
The different formats of the game produce vastly different scenarios. Some T20 experts with the bat who look to slog at the boundary with every ball may not thrive as well in the more patient Test match arena. For any cricket betting strategy, don’t ignore the format.
Arguably even more important is the venue. Home advantage in cricket, particularly in international Test matches, is enormous. Players are used to their conditions and have pitches and wickets set up favourably.
Australia playing on home turf in the Ashes on quick flat pitches under clear skies will be more advantageous than playing under cloudy skies on slower, swinging pitches in England. Study the ground and results.
There are so many factors in the pitch, and cricket is relatively unique in this. For example, how much will spin come into play, and has a team selected the right players for the right conditions?
Historic head-to-head results can often be a good indicator, particularly under Test match settings, and it’s an important thing to look at for a cricket betting strategy.
The current team form is another element to put into the frame. For example, even if Australia have won their last three ODI against India at the MCC, are they as strong a bet as the head-to-head trend suggests if they are currently on a five-match losing streak in current form?
One of the quickest and most basic forms of information gathering to put together a cricket betting strategy is to read the news. If Steve Smith and David Warner are both missing through injury at the top of the order, that’s a massive blow to Australia’s potential run tally. Has India given a debut to a new player? Is England risking Joe Root despite a back injury?
The weather has a more significant impact on cricket than any other sport, affecting how a match could play out. So look ahead at forecasts to see if the match is likely to be completed or whether a visiting team will get favourable conditions overhead.
After researching form and stats, making a cricket bet online is the next big step. We recommend looking at any bookmakers that we mention on this site for betting in Australia. We only make mention of trusted, secure and reputable bookies that rate highly.
The first step is to register an account with one or more of them. You will enter your details and account information during the registration, like a site password. Then the very next step should be funding the account, and bookies offer various payment methods from digital wallets to cards and bank transfers.
The sportsbook itself is the next port of call on the site or the betting app. First, browse through to find the desired cricket match and then look at the market depth for various cricket betting options to weigh up.
Based on your stats research, it’s generally best to go in with a predetermined plan of the cricket bets you want to make. That’s a favourable way to make selections rather than just browsing and clicking random things that may have ‘gut-instinct’ appeal.
The best cricket betting apps will make the process of wagering even more accessible and convenient for punters. An advantage of betting apps includes them being specifically designed for mobile platforms that can operate quickly and are data-friendly.
As part of our research to find the best cricket betting sites in Australia, we consider the strength and qualities of an operator’s betting app.
Having access to cricket betting markets while on the go can provide punters with even more wagering opportunities through live betting. Read our full bookmaker reviews to find the best cricket betting apps.