What is Cricket Betting? Cricket Betting Explained in 2 minutes
Jesse M. Cox Last Verified
19/04/2026
Before the development and spread of online sports betting, the cricket betting markets tended to consist of the outright winner of a match or series, the man of the match and a few statistical bets on issues such as the number of boundaries or no balls. The fact that cricket is played in a variety of formats has helped to encourage the growth of more and highly exciting markets, and the technology means that bets can be placed in-play, as the match is actually taking place.
How is Cricket Betting used in Sports Betting?
Bets can be placed on all forms of cricket, from Test matches to One Day Internationals and T20 matches. A bet such as first innings lead can only be placed on Test matches, since the other forms only consist of a single innings for each team. Amongst the markets offered by cricket betting are the following:
Tournament Winner – betting on the team which is going to win a tournament such as the Cricket World Cup. The bet can be placed before the tournament starts, or as the tournament takes place and the odds shift and change.
Match Winner – in the shorter forms of cricket there is always a winner unless the match has to be abandoned due to bad weather. Test matches, on the other hand, can result in a draw, and this is sometimes offered as the favourite when placing bets. One of the factors which can impact the result is the weather, with bad weather leading to limited playing time and making a draw more likely.
Next Batsman Dismissed – bookmakers offer odds on which of the two batsmen at the crease will be dismissed next, with the odds changing after each delivery.
Top Team Batsman or Bowler – a bet on which batsman will score the most runs, or which bowler will take the most wickets. The selection can be chosen from within one team or from across both teams.
In play markets include how the next wicket will fall, the number of runs in the next over and whether an over will in fact be a maiden.
