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 the 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 specifics in terms of the number of participating teams, duration, pitch type, and so on. It is important to consider all these details in order to have a better chance of placing the most accurate bets possible.

Major Cricket Leagues

To help you navigate the many cricket leagues more easily, this article looks at some key competitions that interest gambling enthusiasts, as well as the relevant types of cricket bets you can take advantage of. 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, the months of 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. Of these, six squads have won the title, with Perth Scorchers being the most successful.

In terms of average attendance, the BBL is confirmed as one of the top domestic sports leagues, so it is no wonder that the event also enjoys significant interest from online punters. Apart from the conventional BBL Winner bet, some bookies also offer the market Team to Finish Bottom of the BBL. Other betting markets available on online cricket betting platforms include BBL Top Batsman and BBL Top Bowler, and betting devotees can also try to predict the best-performing player on any of the teams.

Indian Premier League

Moving to the northwest, we reach India and its Premier League (IPL), another well-liked 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 over 31 million average impressions during 2020, a significant increase compared to the 2019 season.

Until now, the Indian Premier League has comprised eight teams, which first play each other twice in a home-and-away round-robin format. After the league stage, the top four teams qualify for the playoffs. The best two squads from the league phase participate in the first Qualifying match, and the winner goes straight to the IPL final. The other finalist is decided after the second Qualifying match, which is played between the winner of the playoff between the third- and fourth-placed teams from the league phase and the loser of the first Qualifying match.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India recently announced that the upcoming 2022 IPL season will welcome two more franchises, in addition to Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Capitals, Kings XI Punjab, Kolkata Knight Riders, Mumbai Indians, Rajasthan Royals, Royal Challengers Bangalore, and Sunrisers Hyderabad. This means that for the first time since 2011, there will be 10 participating teams. As with other cricket leagues, the most popular bet type is Tournament Outright Winner, but it is far from the only option, and 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, which makes it one of the longest T20 tournaments.

They 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 Quarter Finals, and the respective 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 attractive way Finals Day is organized. The semi-finals and the final are played one after another on the same field. For cricket fans, this means enjoying their favorite sport all day long at a very high level, and for punters, it presents the challenge of placing last-minute correct bets in such a fast-moving event.

Tournament Outright Winner

Outright betting markets are the most common and widely practiced way of wagering, regardless of the sport. In the case of cricket’s Tournament Outright Winner bet, punters need to keep an eye on the big picture for the whole tournament rather than focusing solely on the outcome of specific league matches. Betting odds are not fixed, so the earlier you place your bet, the bigger your potential profit will be. Keep in mind, however, that dynamic odds may turn out to be both beneficial and disadvantageous. Needless to say, if an underdog performs surprisingly well and finishes as a winner in the group stage, its odds of winning the league will change dramatically. The same is true for a favorite that suffers a loss in its first match.

If you want to expand your cricket betting experience and place profitable online match, player, and proposition bets, we invite you to keep reading and move on to the next section of our cricket betting guide.