Cricket Betting Odds

With new bookmakers appearing online every year, it can be difficult to decide which online bookmaker to use when betting on cricket.

Some bookmakers will entice you with a big offer when you make your first bet and others will present very tempting odds on a big cricket match to earn your custom. However, there are some special criteria we can use when choosing a bookmaker for cricket betting, starting with the quality of the odds.

Here is out list of the top 5 bookmakers for cricket.

Betting on the sport of cricket may seem like nothing new for those familiar with the game and the promotional aspects surrounding it on a match-by-match basis.

Almost every cricket match played involving a professional or international team, such as Test Matches, One Day Internationals, Twenty20 matches and English County fixtures offer betting markets, all of which can be found online.

With so many cricket competitions being played during a calendar year, it is little wonder cricket is ranked only second to soccer in terms of worldwide appeal, with billions of fans watching live and on television.

With many forms of the game, both at domestic and international level, it can be confusing for a newcomer to cricket betting. There are so many potential bookmakers from which to choose when betting on cricket, in addition to betting markets and odds.

The quality of odds should play a major role in determining which online bookmaker you use, regardless of the sport but some bookmakers offer better cricket odds than others.

Cricket odds are often some of the best available for most sports online and have a higher average pay-out price than other sports. However, you should also look around and find the best odds before placing a bet on cricket.

BetWay have emerged as a great place to bet on cricket thanks to their high average pay-out price, offering the best value for money of any online bookmaker. You may not immediately associate BetWay with cricket as they have never featured in terms of advertising or promotion around the sport yet provide the best value in terms of odds quality.

Fortunately, when betting on cricket you have several bookmakers offering very competitive odds. Others include well-known names such as Coral, William Hill and Ladbrokes. All three of these bookmakers score very highly when it comes to average pay-out prices for cricket and should be high on your list of cricket betting bookmakers.

For example, prior to the third ODI match between Australia and England, BetWay offered 15/2 for favourite Aaron Finch to be awarded Man of the Match whole Betfair offered 6/1. This leaves us with a £15 difference in winnings based on that one market alone.

The rise of new formats in professional cricket, such as Twenty20 has seen the introduction of different and innovative markets to what was available back at the turn of the century.

Online bookmakers would only cater for the big international matches and their own domestic leagues but his has since expanded to include tournaments, series, leagues and matches from around the globe.

However, one bookmaker is leading the way in terms of tournament and match coverage and that’s BetVictor.

At the time of writing, BetVictor not only covered the major cricket events taking place across the globe but also offered odds for the smaller tournaments such as the Ram Slam T20 Challenge and the Bangladesh Premier League. They also have odds on the women’s cricket matches, including the Big Bash League.

So, if you want the widest match coverage when betting on cricket, head to BetVictor.

Thankfully, there are several other online bookmakers which don’t fall far short of BetVictor and BetWay, Bet365, NetBet and 10Bet all offer a good choice of events on which to bet. If you are only interested in the big cricket tournaments and matches, you can also use William Hill, Paddy Power, 888Sport, Coral and Ladbrokes, who each cover Test Matches, ODI’s, Indian Premier League and Big Bash League.

Having a wide choice of matches on which to bet is one thing but if the range of markets and bet selections on the matches is poor, you will be left disappointed.

Coral are one of the best online bookmakers for choice of cricket bets. One glance at the third ODI match between Australia and England shows Coral have 60 betting markets on offer while Bet365 have just 26. This means Coral have over twice as many betting options on this cricket match than Bet365, which is a significant amount.

Ladbrokes are another good choice for cricket betting markets and they match Coral with 60 to choose from, leaving Bet365 a long way behind. The main differences come in the individual player betting markets and enhanced wincasts.

Additional online bookmakers which have a great choice of cricket betting markets include BetFred, Stan James and BetVictor. So, for market coverage and bet selection, we recommend looking at BetVictor who have a great choice of cricket tournaments, leagues, matches, markets and bets.

In-play betting is a major part of online cricket betting and therefore, any bookmaker who wants to be taken seriously as an option for cricket must have this in their portfolio.

Cricket has many breaks in play, good examples of which are when a wicket is taken, between overs or even when the ball is hit over the boundary. These brief pauses give cricket fans the opportunity to bet on live, in-play markets which is one of the most exciting aspects of cricket betting.

As a result, many of the top online bookmakers offer in-play betting on cricket. Popular in-play cricket betting markets include Fall of Next Wicket, Runs off Next Delivery, Runs off Next Over and Next Man Out.

These can add a great deal of excitement to any cricket match and every bookmaker in our top ten list offers in-play betting on cricket. However, the best includes Bet365, William Hill, BetWay and PaddyPower.

Live streaming is becoming more important to punters who want to follow the action in real time when placing bets. This is not as key for in-play cricket betting as it is for other sports but if you want to bet in-play on a cricket match, it is good to know how the match is flowing.

Both William Hill and 888Sport have good coverage of cricket on their live streaming service but what you can access is often limited by your location. For example, if a television company has the official rights to show live coverage of a cricket match, such as The Ashes between Australia and England, you not be able to stream that live in those countries.

In that instance, Coral have a very good commentary service on their website for cricket and this is a great way to follow the action while betting. As they are not showing live pictures, Coral cover a wide range of the big cricket matches with this service.

Betting bonuses and promotions for cricket are very common, as you can use almost any sign-up promotion or bonus on a betting website to place a bet on cricket. However, these are only available when you first join a bookmaker and therefore, you must also take into consideration the cricket bonuses and promotions for current customers.

You will not find the same cricket bonuses and promotions throughout the year as do on other sports, such as football and tennis but they become available prior to big cricket tournaments and leagues.

The top cricket betting websites will have a selection of free bet offers, price boosts and losing bet refunds for cricket events and matches. If you are keen to take advantage of these cricket betting offers, you should look at bookmakers’ websites in the lead up to events such as The Ashes, Indian Premier League, ICC World Cup and Big Bash League.

Its at this time you will find the best choice of cricket specific bonuses and promotions and you can take advantage to make the most of your cricket betting funds.

When judging which bookmaker to use for cricket betting, there are several other factors which you must consider.

While the quality of the odds, the number of cricket betting markets, live betting and streaming plus bonuses and promotions are all key, there are other equally important aspects to consider when choosing an online bookmaker for cricket betting.

These surround the general usability and trust of the betting site.

When betting on cricket, you want a website which will allow you to find the bet you are looking for quickly. It’s all very well landing on a great looking website but if you cannot find the cricket bet you are looking for, it makes little difference.

You need a balance between website aesthetics and usability. Unlike football markets, cricket betting markets are not usually displayed on the homepage of betting websites unless there is a big event such as the ICC Cricket World Cup final or The Ashes. This means you must go looking for the markets and therefore a clear link to cricket on the homepage is a must.

The best bookmakers for cricket will have a clear link displayed on their homepage, either in the top menu or the menu down the right/left side of the page. If you cannot see one on the website, this is a company which does not consider cricket to be high on their priorities and perhaps you should look elsewhere.

Having clicked on the cricket link, the page should load quickly with a choice of current tournaments and matches in view. If the page is slow to load or you need to continue clicking into several pages to find the cricket match you are looking for, this is a sign you are on the wrong bookmaker for cricket betting.

Ideally, you should be able to place a 1 X 2 bet on your chosen cricket match within a maximum of 4 clicks. That’s the sign of a good cricket bookmaker.

Remember, you will not always be at home when you want to place a bet on a cricket match and this makes mobile options very important.

The website should ideally have an app which you can download to your mobile device. Having opened the app, cricket should be available in the first menu you see. You do not want to be having to press the screen many times just to find the cricket markets, so only choose those which present cricket in the top menu.

When betting on cricket, as with any sport, you want your deposits and withdrawals to be fast and secure.

In addition, there should be no fees attached when using the most common forms of depositing and withdrawal such as credit/debit card and eWallets such as Neteller, Skrill and PayPal.

Look out for a valid secure connection certificate in the top left corner of the address bar before depositing any money on a betting site.

You want to know you are in the best hands when placing a bet on cricket and this means choosing an online bookmaker with great customer service.

Having several options to contact a bookmaker when you need them is vital and every good cricket betting website should have a contact telephone number, email address, postal address and live chat option.

A 24/7 live chat and telephone service is very useful when betting on cricket. Many important cricket matches take place around the world in Australia, India and England and this means huge differences in time zones.

For an English punter to bet live on an Ashes match which is taking place in Australia, the bet will be placed in the early hours of the morning. What if there is a problem with the bet? If the customer support team is not available 24/7, this person is left with nothing they can do, which is very frustrating.

Always check for 24/7 live customer support when betting on cricket, especially during live games.

Perhaps the most important aspect of any bookmaker when placing a bet on cricket is the trust value of the company.

Knowing your money and banking details are always going to be safe is very important and the licenses held by a bookmaker usually give a good indication of their trust level. Most top cricket bookmakers will have their licenses displayed at the bottom of the homepage and visible for every visitor to see.

The most popular licenses for the best cricket online bookmakers come out of Malta, Gibraltar and Great Britain. One or more of these licenses is a sign the website is a good option for cricket betting.

It also pays to know a little about the history and current financial situation of the bookmaker. Would you rather place a bet on a new online bookmaker, with little in the way of financial or historical information available or one which is established and stable?

These are things which must be considered before placing a cricket bet online.