Cricket was actually the original betting sport a long time before football and even horse racing, requiring an act of parliament to control cricket gambling all the way back in the 17th century. Cricket is now played professionally by over 100 countries and as one of the most internationally focused sports around it tends to give us that patriotic feeling. For us, we think Cricket provides the perfect balance to punters with a betting market to suit all types of wager. With a game structure that can range from a whole test series that can last 6 weeks, to individual 6 ball overs, there are so many options to wager on.
The old aristocratic gentleman’s game has seen a dose of youth and excitement enter the sport in the last few decades too.
The good old (long) test match still exists but for those who can’t afford to take 5 days at a time out of their lives there are new quicker and shorter forms of the game now available. Watch and bet on 50 over one day internationals or even rapid paced Twenty20 matches that can be played in one afternoon/evening. Needless to say with so many options and lines to bet on there are some cricket betting sites that stand out of from the crowd. In this guide we will show you some of the best bookies for cricket betting, how to bet on cricket, where to go to find the best odds/markets, common terms, top competitions and the best bets and offers.
Best Online Bookmakers for Cricket Betting
Top international cricket is covered to some degree by all the UK bookmakers on this site. This does not however mean they all offer the same range and quality of betting options. With so many markets available and games to watch, where is the best place to bet?
Below we discuss some of the best cricket bookmakers for odds, streaming, market depth and more. In general if you wager on cricket regularly you can get a lot of added value over time by going to the right site. By having a portfolio of accounts you can also take the best prices and deals on a bet by bet basis.
Unibet
Best Average
Unibet are probably the best all-round online bookmaker for cricket betting, they have a bit of everything. With this site you will find the occasional live stream, very good market range and depth, good news, stats and results and a lot of novel lines to back. There cricket promotions however are much better than most, first of all you can rely on actually having an offer available and secondly these deals tend to be more inclusive than with their competitors.
The brand have made a bit of a name for themselves as one of the places to go to bet on traditional British sports such as Cricket, darts, snooker, etc., and so if you like a these types of games in general getting an account with Unibet will reward you over time.
Betfred
You'll always get an offer
Betfred don’t have the most expansive cricket markets but what they do have is cracking sensible and achievable offers on sports like cricket that other bigger bookies don’t even cover. Whether its T20, a one day international, test match or the world cup the betting site will have some sort of free bet or money back promotion.
Betfred’s go to offer is money back if you back a top batsmen and they score a ton+ but do not end up as the leading scorer, they also have other variations such as in-play free bets and enhanced winnings. The offers change tournament to tournament but one thing you can guarantee is they will have some sort of promotion. If you like to bet on the gentleman’s game you simply can’t ignore them.
Coral
Smashed For 6
Cricket is not the top sport at Coral but even in spite of that the bookie deserve a mention for their depth of market and top offers for the major games. Before you place a big outright you must stop in at Coral to see what they have going on.
Coral are also very good at long term retention offers that cover all sports, such as free bet clubs. These are perfect for test cricket matches in particular where you can bet over several days and earn additional free tokens or bonuses for doing so.
Maximum Bet Payout Limits For Cricket
A Brief History of Cricket
If there was ever a game of the Old British Imperial Empire it would be cricket. Possibly responsible for broaching more peaceful relations than all other sports combined. International matches were first reported in 1844 with the first international test match going way back to 1877.
Cricket is believed to have originated as a children’s game in Saxon times played on sheep grazing land but it wasn’t until the 17th Century that it was taken up as an adult sport, originally played with a wicket consisting of just two stumps.
The origin of the word cricket is controversial but is believed to have derived from old English words for ‘stick’. The first definitive evidence of the game being played by school children comes from a court case stating the game was played in around 1550 on common land in Guildford. The first reference to the adult form dates back to 1611 where two men were fined for playing cricket on a Sunday instead of attending church.
Village cricket became all the rage in the middle of the 1600’s with a number of references during the English Civil War. After a brief period in which it was banned under Cromwell the sport continues to thrive after the restoration in the 1660’s.
Cricket in fact quickly became a gambler’s sport with The Gaming Act passed 1664 limiting stakes on cricket to £100, equivalent to around £15,000 today. With money rolling into the sport the 1697 “great match” commanded a massive prize fund for the time of 50 guineas. Gambling aided the formalisation of the sport with many professional teams set up by patrons attracted to the prize monies available.
Cricket was introduced to the British colonies of North America, Australia, India and the West Indies before it had even moved to the north of England. The first written rules were developed in 1744 with innovations like the middle stump, LBW and regulated bat widths and lengths. The game moved north becoming popular in the likes of Yorkshire. Bowling was changed from being along the ground (as in bowls) to underarm throwing and pitching.
The game continued on and off through several wars eventually undergoing a fundamental organisational restructure in the 1800’s with the beginnings of the county game. Coupled with the development of the railway network allowing regional matches, and the new advent of overarm bowling in 1864, the game peaked in popularity. The first cricketing superstar, W.G. Grace made his debut in 1865 and the first County Championship began in 1890.
1877 saw England’s first international tour of Australia and this was reversed in the next year. In 1889 the 4 ball over was changed to 5 balls and eventually 6 balls by 1900 with even some experiments of an 8 ball over down under. The 20th Century saw international cricket grow creating the modern test series we see today. Cricket is believed to be an integral component to relations in the modern Commonwealth and was strongly involved in keeping relations with Britain cordial during the period of the British Empire.
The 1960’s brought with it the introduction of the limited overs game with the first one day international in 1971. Despite controversies including the suspension of South Africa under apartheid and match fixing allegations the sport has gone from strength to strength. The most recent advent being 20 over cricket with the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup in 2007. Modern online betting is a perfect fit with all formats of the modern game too with more matches and markets than ever to wager on.
How To Bet On Cricket
Cricket, as we have found out, is historically a sport associated with betting.
In many ways it is the perfect sport to wager on as it has every betting option available through the various formats of the game. Whether you want to bet by the minute in play on the next over or put a big outright series bet on a series and play the long game there is a punt for you.
Here we describe some common cricket bets and how to place them, bets with the best value odds as well as common offers to look out for. For more information about different bets and how to place them see our bet types section.
How the Sport of Cricket Is Played
Cricket has some weird and wonderful terminologies dating back to the days of Olde English so it is worth pointing out some of the major rules and phrases you are likely to encounter.
Eleven players on each team compete to score the highest number of runs (points) before all team members are dismissed (knocked out). A match is divided into innings in which one team will field and the other team bats and this is reversed for the next innings. Batsmen tend to be ordered by ability with the object of the game being for the batman to hit the ball when bowled in a manner that will allow them to score runs without getting knocked out. The fielding team’s objective is to bowl the ball at the batsman so that it either hits the bails off the three stumps of the wicket (bowled) or forces an error from the batman that will allow the ball to be ‘caught’ without bouncing or for the batsman’s stumps to be hit when the batman is absent from their crease ‘run out’.
A batsman is positioned at each end of the small rectangular pitch in the centre with the objective of protecting their wickets from the ball using their bat. The bowlers take turns bowling ‘overs’ of 6 consecutive balls at batmen from one end after which the bowling switched to the other end for the next over. The end to which the ball is bowled is called ‘the strike’. The batsman must have at least one leg behind the line ‘crease’ to protect their wickets. To gain a run a batsman runs between creases at either end, an odd number of runs in an over will put the opposite batman ‘on strike’. If a batsman’s wickets are hit by the ball with the batsman away from their crease then they are ‘run out’.
To get out a batsman needs to be bowled directly, run out, caught or leg before wicket (LBW). LBW is a situation where the ball misses the bat and hits the batman’s legs but would have gone on to hit the wickets. Once out a batsman is replaced with the next batman in the list until all 11 players are either out or the batting team decides to declare (end the innings).
The fielding team will place players in positions on an oval pitch where they believe they stand the strongest chance of getting the batsman out. These positions have weird and wonderful names but basically leg side (or on side) is anything on the side opposite to the batsman’s batting hand (a right handed batsman’s left side would be leg side), the other side is the off side. Many positions derive from these names, fine-leg, square leg, etc. At the edge of the pitch is a boundary, if the ball reaches this boundary without bouncing or being caught the batsman scores 6 runs and if it reaches the boundary but bounces the batsman gets 4 runs.
Test matches are played with two innings for each team over a maximum of 5 days. Play stops for regulated breaks of Lunch and Tea. One day internationals, or ODI’s, are one day only matches of one innings per team of 50 overs each. Finally in the shortest form of the game, Twenty20, each team gets just 20 overs against their opponents, these games tend to be played in a single afternoon or evening. Needless to say you can place a bet on everything from the outcome of the next ball to result of an entire test tour.
There are many many more rules and terms in Cricket, comprehensive cricket guidelines can be found at regulatory body website, the International Cricket Council (ICC). The ICC was set up in the early 20th century as a body to regulate and enforce international cricket rules.
Outright Result Betting
There are plenty of opportunities to place outright bets in Cricket. From betting on the winner of the big ODI and Twenty20 World Cup to betting on the winner of an individual match. Outright betting can also apply to an individual innings of a test match and even individual sessions of an innings. There are a multitude of outright markets available to bet on in cricket spread over hugely different timescales and this is one of the reasons cricket is a great betting sport. Outright lines are the most competitive markets between bookies and for punters represents a great way to get good value odds.
Look out for enhanced odds new customer and existing customer promotions leading up to major series and tournaments. Bookies have been known to run many of these lines at a loss to attract punters to bet with them. For bookies that are likely to have great outright deals see our best cricket bookmakers feature.
Win, Place and Each Way Betting
These bet types are common when wagering on knockout tournaments such as the one day and Twenty20 world cup tournaments. These bets also apply to county championship leagues and cups. In general test cricket is played between two teams in a ‘series’ of matches whilst teams tour other countries due to the length of the game. This means conventional each way and place betting does not really apply. Now the ICC have finally got around to arranging a proper test match championship then there is be no reason why you could not place these bet types. It is also sometimes possible to place each way bets on match markets such as top batsman, bowler, etc.
Betting on the draw in cricket is rare due to the high scoring nature of the game but it is common to bet on a tie. With innings scores in the hundreds it is rare to have an actual scoring draw however if play is stopped during a game, usually by rain or bad light, then the game can end in a tie. Predicting a tie is often more about keeping an eye on the weather forecast than looking at stats. Many bookies will offer draw/tie money back deals for big events. It is worth checking the rules with this one as some bookies combine ties and draws togethere whereas others offer separate lines for each.
Top Bowler, Top Batsman
The second most common bet type in cricket is to predict the top scoring batsman or bowler. This can be the top scorer in a while test series, an individual match, innings or even session. These lines tend to provide better odds than outright markets and are attractive to punters. Different pitches suit various type of batting and bowling styles allowing bettors to use their knowledge to predict the top scorers.
The usual top scorer bet is to predict the total number of runs scored or wickets taken. Other bets include betting on the batsman with the greatest scoring efficiency (runs / balls faced) or the bowler with the best bowling figures (runs scores / wickets taken).
Top player bets can be either overall or within a team. On occasion you may see markets for top fielder, top wicket keeper, etc.
Player/Team To Score A Century Or Fifty
A very popular bet in Cricket. Scoring 50’s and 100’s is the currency we use to benchmark batsmen in the sport of cricket and so these have become popular betting line both pre-event and in play. Get decent odds on a batman scoring century in particular, if you think a player is in good form and may have a good chance of scoring 100 you will commonly see odds between around 4/1 to 20/1 for the main order batsmen. Enhanced odds deals can often be found for this market for top games.
Other variations of this market include a team to score a century either in a match or an innings. A century to be scored on day one would be another market example. These betting lines are often combined into wincast betting, such as ‘Joe Root to score a century and England to win’.
Runs Scored / Innings Lead
In addition to betting on players to score 100’s or fifty’s there are lines available for players and teams to reach any runs total you fancy. A common wager is to predict the number of runs in an innings or match, e.g. between 220 and 240 runs. Likewise you may choose to bet on the number of runs a team may be leading/losing by after the 1st innings or predict the winning margin of the match.
The winning team wins by a number of runs or wickets. If the bowling team bowls out the opposition before they reach the specified run total this is known as winning by ‘X runs’. If the batting team wins by reaching the opposition run total before they lose all of their wickets this is known as winning by ‘X wickets’. If a team wins a test match by bowling out the opposition twice before they reach the runs total from the winning teams first innings this is known as ‘winning by an innings and X runs/wickets’. Not too common but great odds available for the possibility.
Fall Of Wicket / Method Of Dismissal
This a more fun type of bet that is very popular in play, it tends to have a fairly quick turn around as long as wickets are falling. Simply bet on who will take the next wicket, when it will be or how the next wicket will fall.
Examples of who will take the wicket could be ‘Steward Broad to take the next wicket’, or an example of who will be dismissed next ‘Steve Smith to be the next batsman out’ or when the next wicket will fall ‘wicket to fall in the next 50 balls’, and so on. The other type of bet is fall of wicket. The most common (and so lowest odds) methods is ‘caught out’ either by the field or the wicket keeper followed by LBW and bowled out. Other dismissal methods are rarer and carry higher odds such as a player to be run out, stumped or other.
Highest Partnership
Cricket isn’t just about one player, it doesn’t matter if one player scores 100 if every other player is out for a duck (0 runs scored). Success in the game is therefore often defined by how many successful partnerships are made between batsmen and consequently these lines are regularly wagered on with good odds and sometimes offers available. Either bet on the number of runs scored in the opening partnership (first two batsmen) or any partnership during the match.
With the exception of opening partnership betting most lines on other partnerships are best placed in play. Beyond the opening pair it is impossible to know what combination of batsmen will be at the crease at any one time.
Over/Under Betting
As a relatively high scoring game over/under betting is great in Cricket. This can be particularly useful in games with a strong favourite where outright odds are not so attractive. Over/under bets can be placed on cumulative runs for a whole match or a single innings. These bets add great value if you think a team will hit a big total for an ‘over’ wager or be bowled out for a low total for an ‘under’ bet. Most bookies will offer this bet type, offers are rare so it helps to shop around for the best odds.
Over/Under bets can be placed on individual overs, a series of overs, a whole session, an innings or any given period of time.
‘Overs’ Betting
One of the quickest turnaround bets in cricket is to bet on an over (6 bowled balls). The number of lines available within one single over is probably larger than you would imagine. Bet on result of the first ball (dot ball, no-ball, wide, wicket, 1 run, 2 runs, etc.), bet on how many runs will be scored in an over, number of wides or no balls, will a 4 or 6 be scored, will there be an odd or even number of runs, will the over be a maiden (no runs scored), etc.
Bet on a series of overs with lines such as ‘number of runs in the next 15 overs’, ‘number of wickets in the next 20 overs’, ‘number of 4’s in the next 10 overs’, and so on. Frankly if you can think of a line to bet on one of our top bookies will be offering it.
Finally bet on the number of overs that will be bowled in a session / day / innings / match by either a whole team or individual bowler. Wager on a bowlers economy (No runs scored / No wickets taken) and even on their error rate (No no balls, wides, extras).
Handicap
Handicaps are very applicable to cricket betting and most bookies will offer at least a few markets. Particularly useful bets when there is an out and out favourite or if a team is clearly winning or losing in a match. Run handicaps will give either a runs disadvantage or advantage to a team and this caused the odds to change.
For example, Australia are playing Bangladesh and you think it will be a rout, Australia however are short odds to win, say 1/5 on with Bangladesh say 8/1. Take a -100 run handicap on Australia and a +100 run handicap on Bangladesh may bring the odds closer to evens giving you a little more value for your bets. Click to find out more about handicap betting.
Accumulator
Accumulator betting is possible in any cricket tournament or league with multiple games. As well as the usual win-draw-lose accas multiples can be placed on many markets from run totals to tot batsmen/bowlers, etc. As long as the markets are not linked (usually this means different games) then you can place an acca. Although cricket acca offers specifically are rare several bookies have all sport acca insurance or accumulator bonuses that can be used to add value to your cricket accumulator.
Specials And Other Cricket Bets
There are plenty of specials markets and other available for this sport, so many that we can’t cover them all. Place a wincast bet where you have two or more linked outcomes such as ‘Joe Root to be England’s top runscorer and England to win the match’ or as it is sometimes called a ‘bowlcast bet, something like, ‘Steward Broad to be England’s top1st innings wicket taker and England to win the match’. Wager on the winning margin between the teams (e.g. 100 runs) or whether there will be a 6 scored on the first day or if a double century will be scored in the match. If you can think of an outcome a bookie will offer you odds.
Other lines include betting on the man of the match, who will win the toss, direction of the first boundary, both teams to bat in a day, runs at the fall of the 1st (2nd, 3rd, etc) wicket, what will the first ball of the match be (dot ball, run ball, etc.). Player v Player markets are also common, player X to score more runs or take more wickets than player Y. Longer term specials include who will be the next team manager or captain, you can even predict the size of the crowd at the next game. Be careful though as these types of bets tend to be poor value with low odds. Look out for enhanced odds/terms offers when placing these wagers.
Other Betting Systems
The nature of cricket means pretty much any betting systems can be sued including full cover betting such as Lucky 15’s, forecast betting, conditional betting, Asian handicaps, spread bets and more. You may need to ask your bookie for odds with some of these bet types. For more information on how these bets work and the risks involved see our betting guide.
Live In Play Betting
For me cricket is one of the best sport for live betting. Lines are available that run anywhere from one minute to 5 days in play giving all punters an opportunity to place the in play bet they want. Cricket can be a long old game and this can make tactical live betting a lot of fun. For example let’s say a bowler is coming towards the end of their bowling spell and they look a little tired, this may cause them to deliver the odd wayward ball. Now this is a good time to get a bet on that there will be over than the average number of runs in that over for example.
All bookies on this site offer some sort of in play cricket betting but we recommend you have a look at our recommended bookies first who tend to offer the most in play lines and markets. To read more about bookmakers live betting features in general see our betting site reviews.
News, Results and Statistics
Unlike some of other sports major cricket news and results are not always available but when you find a good service they can not only provide a good read but also aid your betting. Some bookies do provide an exceptional news and/or blog service, two that come to mind are William Hill and Paddy Power.
Understanding the mentality of a team can help hugely in predicting a result, think of England winning the Ashes in 2005 and even in 2015, no bookie predicted it but read the news and blog features and you could tell it was coming. For more information on betting site features to complement live betting see our bookie reviews.
Live Streaming and Commentary
I wouldn’t say live streaming is as critical to betting on cricket as with some other sports.
Maybe if you are watching a Twenty20 game it would be quite fun but few people will want to watch a 5 day test match on a small streaming window.
Some bookies do stream some cricket such as William Hill and 888 Sport but you are more than likely going to dip in and out of this if anything.
Coral (and others) live commentary services actually integrate well with cricket and can make in play betting just as fun as video streaming.
Another option is to watch the matches on TV.
Again for info about betting sites streaming services see out reviews.
Cricket Betting Controversies
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Cricket as a sport has courted plenty of betting controversies from its very conception right up to the modern day. In the earliest days back in 1664 the government even passed the Gaming Act designed to prevent huge amounts of money being gambled on the sport. In spite of attempts to control betting and gambling there have still been some pretty big scandals in recent times.
Back in 2000 police in Delhi intercepted a phone call between the then South African cricket captain, Hansie Cronje, where they found he has been taking money from a blacklisted bookie to throw matches. He admitted this at a board of inquiry and was immediately banned from all cricket. Saleem Malik from Pakistan and Mohammed Azharuddin and Ajay Jadeja from India were also implicated and banned. This is believed at the time to have been the tip of the iceberg.
Mark Waugh and Shane Warne received fines from the Australia cricket board in 1995 for providing information about the weather and pitch conditions to an India bookmaker nicknamed “John the bookmaker”.
The ICC eventually set up an anti-corruption board in 2000 headed by a former Met police commissioner. This wasn’t enough to prevent the 2010 spot fixing scandal during the 4th test of a Pakistan tour of England however. The News Of The World newspaper taped the Pakistani player Mazhar Majeed informing reporters that Pakistani fast bowlers would bowl no-balls at specific points during an over. This information was to be used by gamblers to place large bets on no-balls to be bowled. Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir all received between 5-10 year bans and later prison sentences from 6-32 months.
In 2018 Australian captain Steve Smith was at the center of a ball fixing scandal in a test match against South Africa. He admitted he has colluded with bowler Cameron Bancroft to alter the condition of the ball using a form of sandpaper. This lead to bans of up to a year for both along with vice captain David Warner, with all three players not playing the last two days of that particular test match. Of course this had a big influence on any bets placed although the reason for fixing the match does not seem to be related to trying to fix bets.
You can read more about these cricket scandals, and fixing in other sports in out bet and match fixing guide.
Cricket Competitions
In the UK the cricket season runs from spring to autumn and during this time there is plenty of national and domestic cricket to bet on. Online betting however now means there is a cricket match now going on somewhere in the world each week. To help you decide what is worth sticking a wager on we have compiled a list of the major national and international tournaments and leagues.
International Tournaments and Matches
Cricket World Cup – Regarded as the current pinnacle of the one day international limited overs game. This competition is held every four years and was first held in England in 1975. The competition has been won 4 times already by Australia. The structure has changed several times, the 2015 world cup had 14 teams with two groups of 7 teams with the top 4 teams in each group progressing to a knockout stage.- ICC Champions Trophy – Second to the world cup the Champions Trophy is another one day international format competition played approximately every two years and first took place in 1998. The 8 highest ranking ODI teams compete in two groups of 4 followed by a knockout competition.
- ICC World Twenty20 – Also known as the world T20. This is the pinnacle of the shortest form of the game. The first tournament was fairly recent in 2007 staged in South Africa. 16 teams compete, including all test playing nations and the rest qualification between other ICC members. Four groups of 4 compete in a round robin followed with the top two teams from each group entering the knock out stage.
- ICC World Test Championship – Test cricket finally now has a major tournament like the ODI world cup beginning in 2019. Test matches tend to be played in series when a team tours another country. For example, if England were to tour India they may play between 2-5 test matches. ODI’s and Twenty20 games tend to be tagged on to the end of these tours. Most major tours happen around every 2-4 years but there is no definitive structure. The ICC world test championship aims to bring some meaning to these bilateral test matches with the top ranked sides playing a series of matches over two years and the overall winner receiving a trophy. The Ashes, for example, would be counted as part of this.
- The Ashes – The most high profile test series between England and Australia. The series alternates about every two years between the two countries. The series consists of 5 tests over a period of around 8 weeks usually followed by ODIs and Twenty20 games. Australia won the first test series in 1882 at the Oval, an obituary in a newspaper stated “the body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia”. This caught on and the then England captain, Ivo Bligh, vowed to regain the ashes. During the next series after England had won 2/3 tests a small urn containing the ashes, reputedly of a wooden bail, was presented to the team and has remained the unofficial trophy of the competition ever since. This is the biggest match in all of test cricket with tons and tons of offers available.
- One Day Internationals – Games of 50 overs for each side and one batting innings. Competed between teams with ODI status awarded by the ICC. These matches are often tagged on to tours and test series. Points are accrued by winning matches with the top 8 ranked teams able to compete for the ICC Champions Trophy and all teams entering the World Cup.
Domestic Tournaments and Matches
Indian Premier League – One of the top Twenty20 domestic leagues in the world. The most watched cricket league in the world and worth lots of money this league attracts the world’s top players. Contested annually by Indian franchise teams that represent various cities. Formed in 2008, 11 teams have competed and 8 currently form the league.- T20 Blast – The UK’s version of the IPL. First run in 2014 the 18 first class county teams are divided into two groups of 9 teams. Teams play each other home and away. The top four teams in each league then enter a knock out stage to compete for the trophy.
- Big Bash League – Australia’s version of a Twenty20 league. First competed in 2011, 8 teams compete in two league of 4 teams followed by a knock out stage. Many other countries have their own T20 leagues and competitions such as the Caribbean Premier League in the West Indies.
- County Championship – England and Wales first class cricket league consisting of 18 clubs representing English and Welsh counties. The league began in 1890 with Yorkshire the most successful country currently with 32 league titles. The league is split into two divisions of 9 teams that play each other home and away in 4 day matches. Teams win 16 points for a win, 5 for a draw and 8 for a tie. Bonus points are awarded for certain outcomes, for example 400+ runs give 5 bonus points.
- Royal London One Day Cup – Domestic 50 over ODI competition between the 18 top county championship teams, commencing in 2014 as a replacement for the ECB Pro 40 competition. The structure is again two randomly assigned groups of 9 with the top 4 teams of each league entering a knock out stage, the first title was won by Durham.
- Other Countries, Leagues and Matches – Each ICC country with test status run their own national cricket leagues, cups and competitions. A full range of domestic and international women’s cricket is also played as well as U19 competitions. Information on all cricket tournaments can be found from the ICC.
Odds and Payouts
Odds
When betting on outright lines for major tournaments like the world cups or big test series like the Ashes outright odds are very good value and highly competitive. Bookies will compete to get you to place these bets with them so expect to see lots of new customer and existing customer enhanced odds offers, free bets and more. If not taking up a major offer check out odds comparrison sites to find the best raw outright odds for a range of markets. Some bookies like BetVictor are generally better for raw odds wherease Paddy Power and 888 Sport are better for offers.
When betting on other match markets (over/under, handicaps, method of dismissal, etc.) odds values tend to be lower. Not all bookies offer these lines and they are therefore inherently less competitive. This is also true for markets from more minor leagues and trophies that are not widely covered. One of the least value odds markers are novelty bets and specials so do shop around for these bet types and even phone your bookie and ask them for a better price, often they will give you better odds especially for larger stakes.
Payouts
Cricket is a major sport and so payout limits tend to be decent but don’t expect to see the kind of limits you may encounter with football or horse racing.
Many bookies have a cricket payout limit of around £100,000 but this can be dramatically lower with others so do check in advance if placing big singles or multiples.
For more information about payout limits from different bookies see out betting site reviews.
Please note if you are placing multiple bets that combine several lines, markets or sports then any payout is usually restricted by the line with the lowest limit.