Cricket League Bets

Fortunately for cricket betting fans, there is a wide selection of regular leagues on which to place bets every season. These leagues allow betting enthusiasts to wager on whether their favorite teams will win a major competition and, with the right prediction, earn a significant amount of money. Just as the sport itself has different varieties, each cricket league has its own characteristics in terms of the number of participating teams, duration, pitch type, and other factors. It is important to consider all these details to improve your chances of placing accurate bets.

Major Cricket Leagues

To help you navigate the many cricket leagues more easily, this article examines several key competitions that interest betting enthusiasts, as well as the relevant types of cricket bets available. We have selected three major tournaments, each taking place on a different continent and differing from the others in terms of schedule and other specific details.

Big Bash League

For sports fans from European countries, as well as the United States and Canada, December, January, and February are mostly associated with winter sports, with very few exceptions. At that time, however, it is summer in Australia, where one of the most popular cricket leagues, the Big Bash League (BBL), is held. It is a professional franchise Twenty20 cricket league sponsored by KFC. The league features eight permanent city-based franchises: Adelaide Strikers, Brisbane Heat, Hobart Hurricanes, Melbourne Renegades, Melbourne Stars, Perth Scorchers, Sydney Sixers, and Sydney Thunder. Six of these squads have won the title, with Perth Scorchers being the most successful.

In terms of average attendance, the BBL ranks among the top domestic sports leagues, so it is no wonder that the event also attracts significant interest from online punters. Apart from the conventional BBL Winner bet, some bookies also offer a Team to Finish Bottom of the BBL market. Other betting markets available on online cricket betting platforms include BBL Top Batsman and BBL Top Bowler. Betting enthusiasts can also try to predict the top-performing player across the participating teams.

Indian Premier League

Moving northwest, we reach India and its Premier League (IPL), another popular event that attracts thousands of avid spectators and sports bettors. The IPL is a landmark T20 cricket event that set an impressive viewing record with more than 31 million average impressions in 2020, a significant increase compared to the 2019 season.

Before its 2022 expansion, the Indian Premier League comprised eight teams, which played each other twice in a home-and-away round-robin format. After the league stage, the top four teams qualified for the playoffs. The two best squads from the league phase participated in the first qualifying match, with the winner advancing directly to the IPL final. The other finalist was decided in the second qualifying match, played between the winner of the playoff involving the third- and fourth-placed teams and the loser of the first qualifying match.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India announced that the 2022 IPL season would welcome two more franchises, joining Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Capitals, Punjab Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders, Mumbai Indians, Rajasthan Royals, Royal Challengers Bangalore, and Sunrisers Hyderabad. This meant that, for the first time since 2011, there would be 10 participating teams. As with other cricket leagues, the most popular type of bet is Tournament Outright Winner, but it is far from the only option. Cricket punters can also try to predict which player will hit the most sixes, for example.

T20 Blast

We continue our cricket journey around the world and arrive in Europe for the T20 Blast (Vitality Blast), a competition for English and Welsh first-class counties. Its format differs from those of the tournaments mentioned above, as the Vitality Blast features 18 teams, making it one of the longest T20 tournaments.

The teams are divided into a North Group (Birmingham Bears, Derbyshire Falcons, Durham, Lancashire Lightning, Leicestershire Foxes, Northamptonshire Steelbacks, Notts Outlaws, Worcestershire Rapids, and Yorkshire Vikings) and a South Group (Essex Eagles, Gloucestershire, Hampshire Hawks, Kent Spitfires, Glamorgan, Middlesex, Somerset, Surrey, and Sussex Sharks). The top four teams in each group advance to the quarter-finals, and the winners qualify for Finals Day, which is usually held by the end of the summer.

Cricket betting fans are captivated not only by the abundance of matches but also by the exciting format of Finals Day. The semi-finals and final are played one after another on the same field. For cricket fans, this means enjoying their favorite sport at a high level throughout the day. For punters, it presents the challenge of placing accurate last-minute bets during such a fast-moving event.

Tournament Outright Winner

Outright betting markets are among the most common and widely used ways to wager, regardless of the sport. With cricket’s Tournament Outright Winner bet, punters need to keep an eye on the bigger picture throughout the tournament rather than focusing solely on the outcomes of specific league matches. Betting odds are not fixed, so placing your bet earlier may result in a higher potential payout. Keep in mind, however, that changing odds can be either beneficial or disadvantageous. If an underdog performs surprisingly well and finishes at the top of the group stage, its odds of winning the league will change dramatically. The same is true for a favorite that loses its first match.

If you want to expand your cricket betting experience and explore online match, player, and proposition bets, we invite you to continue to the next section of our cricket betting guide.