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American sports bettors are clamoring to learn how to bet on cricket matches.
MI New York won the first Major League Cricket championship last summer and the USA is hosting 16 games at the T20 Cricket World Cup in June 2024.
With top offshore sportsbooks offering excellent cricket odds and thousands of markets now is the best time to learn all about a game that’s older than baseball.
How to Bet on Cricket
Cricket is one of the oldest sports in the world and until recently, was contested professionally by only a handful of nations including Australia, India, England, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and New Zealand.
The game has grown exponentially over the last decade, though, and the US officially launched the Major League Cricket tournament in 2023.
Cricket draws many similarities to baseball and as such there are many aspects of a single match that can be bet on. This can lead to a very exciting betting experience that can be enjoyed in a number of different ways in the US.
You can head to any of the best online sportsbooks to bet on cricket. It is perfectly legal to bet at these operators and many bettors prefer to use them as the odds are generally better.
How Cricket Betting Works
Understanding cricket betting markets is key to learning how to bet on cricket online.
A cricket match can only have one winner but there are also draws, tied matches, and abandoned games. Thankfully, most sportsbooks provide 2-way markets, so you’ll have your stake returned if any of those scenarios happen.
The most popular and easiest to understand market is the moneyline. Like in all other sports, betting the moneyline means picking the winner.
Besides the outcome of the match, cricket betting odds stretch to hundreds of other aspects of a match including the performance of batters, bowlers, and the fall of the next wicket.
How to Place a Cricket Bet
Anyone can learn how to bet on cricket matches in a hurry since sportsbooks like Bovada are very intuitive. It’s so easy to sign up, deposit, and place that first cricket bet. Just follow our six simple steps.
1. Sign Up
Head to any of our recommended sportsbooks. For example, if you go to Bovada, you can begin the sign-up process by clicking ‘Join’ and filling in your details like your name and address.
2. Make a Deposit
Once logged in, go to the cashier and select a deposit method. Nominate your deposit amount and follow any prompts to complete the transaction. It is at this time that any welcome bonus will usually be claimed.
3. Search the Markets
Navigate to Sports A-Z at the bottom of the page and choose cricket from the list.
From there you will find markets for all upcoming fixtures and tournaments.
4. Create Your Bet
By clicking on a selection (eg a moneyline bet on USA to beat Canada) you’ll instantly see your bet drop into the bet slip. Any bets you click on will be sent to this slip, which means you can place multiple bets at once or create parlays.
5. Finalize Your Bet
Make sure you’ve set up your bet or bets appropriately and set your stake for each bet. Confirm the bet by clicking the green button at the bottom of the slip. Your bet will be instantly placed.
6. Wait for the Outcome
Now you can just sit back and watch the match. If your bet is successful, you’ll be able to claim a withdrawal as soon as you meet the minimum requirements. Remember, if you placed a bet using bonus funds, you may still have a playthrough requirement to clear.
Types of Cricket Bet
To truly understand how to bet on cricket successfully, let’s look at a few possible cricket bets to get a better understanding of how cricket betting works at offshore sportsbooks.
There is nothing too unusual for cricket betting and anyone who has gambled on sport before will understand cricket bet types rather quickly.
Moneyline
If you think the USA will beat Canada in the opening match of the T20 World Cup on June 1st, they are available at -180.
Like any regular moneyline bet, you will lose if the USA lose the match or it is a tie, which is an incredibly rare occurrence in cricket.
Match Props
Method of first dismissal can be a valuable prop bet as the odds are high and there is a lot of data that can aid in predicting how a batter could get out.
You can quickly and easily look at their most recent dismissals and check how the opening and change bowlers tend to get their wickets.
For example, stumpings are usually a very rare first dismissal since pace bowlers often bowl first. In T20 cricket, however, slower spin bowlers regularly open the bowling which brings stumpings back into consideration.
This means it might offer better value than the three more common methods of dismissal – bowled, caught, or leg before wicket (LBW) – wen looking for an early match prop bet.
Player Props
Just like match props, these outcomes are not tied in with the final result of the match.
Unlike match props, these bets are based on individual player performances. For example, betting on which player will score the most runs in a match or take the most wickets.
Futures
This is an outright type of bet on which cricket team will win an entire tournament or series and the bet is placed before the tournament even commences. Most sportsbooks will offer futures markets like Series Winner, Tournament Winner or Outright Winner for major cricket tournaments and Tours way in advance – as much as a year in advance in some instances.
Over/Under
This refers to types of bets like spreads and totals. A totals bet is betting on whether a total number of runs in a match, an innings, or a player’s individual total will be over or under a certain number.
How to Bet on Live Cricket in the USA
Live betting brings many advantages when betting on any sport and takes a small edge away from the bookmaker. This is largely due to the quick reaction speeds needed to shift odds in real-time which can lead to a great deal of value for sports bettors with a keen eye and solid knowledge of cricket.
Live betting on cricket is simple. Open the market window for your chosen match and you’ll see all the available markets in real-time. The odds will shift reactively to game situations. This is where your cricket knowledge can come in handy.
For example, the odds on the fall of the next wicket might be in over 50 runs’ time but you know your team’s strategy well. A bowling change is imminent and the current batter scoring alarming runs against the pace attack doesn’t fair well against spinners.
You can place a bet under 50 runs at exceptional odds just before the change of bowling which could cause those odds to tighten up. If you’re correct and the batter soon falls to the new spin attack, you’ll profit due to taking advantage of slow, reactive live odds.
Cricket Betting Tips & Strategies
Now that you know the basics, it’s time to learn how to bet on cricket and win.
We’ve compiled some of our favorite cricket betting strategies that will set you up for success. Follow this cricket betting guide and you’ll be better equipped to successfully bet on cricket in the USA.
- Know the key players – Learn all about each team’s best players and how they compare to others. A team might have some big hitters known for fast run scoring. However, those same big hitters might be “flat track bullies”, only reliable for scoring against pace bowling on flat pitches that provide little discomfort for batting.
- Consider conditions – The weather is very impactful in cricket, and the pitch conditions are even more important. Look to see if the pitch is a “road” which will heavily favor batters due to its fast pace and lack of grip. Equally, a rough or dusty pitch will take pace off the ball and spin more, making it harder for scoring.
- Bet live – Due to the fast pace and reactiveness of live betting, you’ll typically receive far better odds when betting live than you would pre-match. A common cricket betting tip is to bet on the moneyline right after the first ball as the odds will often immediately shift to more valuable lines than the closing pre-match lines prior to the start of play.
- Look for arbitrage chances – This is especially prevalent when live betting on cricket. Look for chances to cover your bets and guarantee profit. Using two sportsbooks is a better way to get different odds and find arbitrage betting opportunities.
- Live bet on pressure – Pressure brings wickets. Look for a batter that hasn’t scored runs in a while or a team that has faced considerable dot balls. Even the most well-tempered players can play a rash shot when under pressure and you can take advantage of late reacting odds when you predict the wicket before it happens when live betting.
- Consider team composition – Consider the players in each team in detail and how each player can combat each other. Left- and right-hand batting combinations can be difficult to bowl against while a team with a leg spinner will prefer bowling to right-handers, as they’ll spin the ball away from the body.
Different Cricket Formats
To fully understand how to bet on cricket, you’ll need to know that there are two distinct forms of cricket. That is test cricket and the many forms of limited-overs cricket. We identify all the popular types of cricket you can bet on at offshore sportsbooks.
Types of Events
There are so many cricket events held each year and so many popular rivalries, we could dedicate an entire article to the subject. However, some events are exceedingly more popular to bet on than the rest.
The Ashes
The oldest and greatest rivalry in the history of the game, the Ashes is a 5-Test series of matches played between Australia and England men’s cricket teams. A separate women’s Ashes competition consists mostly of ODI matches.
World Cups
It began with the original limited-overs World Cup in 1975, but has since expanded into a T20 World Cup and Women’s World Cup too.
These major cricket events and tournaments are played roughly every four years. They have started to include more nations as minor cricket playing nations have begun to develop further.
Indian Premier League (IPL)
The first T20 franchise tournament completely changed the cricket landscape. For the first time ever, players from around the world competed with and against each other in franchises and new and exciting talents emerged. Popular cricket tournaments don’t come any bigger, so IPL betting sites provide great avenues for placing wagers on this global event.
US Major League Cricket
The first US franchise T20 cricket league concluded in July 2023 and saw MI New York take the first championship.
This tournament was a huge success and brought cricket to the United States in a big way. Major League Cricket is much like the IPL and features big-name players from all over the world.
The Hundred
This revolutionary franchise tournament held in the UK introduced 100-ball cricket to the world in 2021 and produces games that are even shorter than a T20.
Australian Big Bash League (BBL)
Launched in 2011 and arguably the second biggest T20 league in terms of popularity and name recognition, this T20 franchise tournament attracts big-name players to Australia and runs between December and February.
One Day Domestic Leagues
These leagues will begin popping up at more US sportsbooks as the sport continues to rise in popularity following the success of the inaugural US Major League Cricket season. Each cricket-playing nation has a domestic 50-over Limited Overs tournament with Australia, England, and New Zealand’s tournaments being among the most popular.
World Test Championship Final
First contested in 2019, the World Test Championship Final is played in the UK between the two highest-ranking test-playing nations following a season of Test matches played against numerous other nations. Points are awarded after each Test and the winner faces off in the single Test final at the end of this international competition.
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