Cricket, and cricket betting tips
The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) was formed in 1787… but historians can trace references to the sport back to the time of Shakespeare!
In fact the game has been a part of the sporting landscape for several hundred years, well before cricket’s original governing body, the MCC, came into existence… and many years prior to the first meeting of England and Australia in The Ashes (1882).
But despite these ancient roots, cricket really started to spread around the globe in the mid to late 1800’s with the first touring teams leaving English shores, as well as visiting teams from Australia coming to play in the ‘Home of Cricket’.
South Africa (1889) became the third country to join the test playing nations, followed by the West Indies (1926).
Then New Zealand (1928), India (1932) and Pakistan (1952).
It then wasn’t until the late 20th century that Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh (the latest country to join, in 2000) were added to the international roster.
The game is now under the administration of the International Cricket Council (ICC), founded in 1909 (as the Imperial Cricket Conference) the body took its current name in 1989 and now presides over the global running of the sport.
International cricket began solely at ‘Test Match’ level, with the first meeting being England and Australia in 1877.
Test matches could be played over any length of time – ‘timeless Tests’ – but the last of these was played in 1939. It was between England and South Africa, lasting for 12 days… and it still ended as a draw, with England having to leave to catch their boat home!
Matches are now scheduled to be played for 5 days, with a target of 90 overs a day to be played.
At club level, in the domestic County Championship, first contested in 1890, matches are played over four days.
The creation of one day cricket
Matches which take four or five days aren’t always the most practical.
In 1962 the first limited overs cricket match was played between Leicestershire and Derbyshire and the following year, 1963, the first one day competition, the Gillette Cup, was started. This was a 60 overs a side version of the sport. Now called the Friends Provident Trophy.
In 1969 the Sunday League (40 overs a side) was created… over time this has changed in nature but still exists, in some shape or form, as the Pro40.
The first One-Day International was played in Melbourne in 1971 (as a schedule filler when bad weather interrupted the Test Match series) and the stripped down version of the game took a huge step forward through the efforts of the Kerry Packer and his World Series Cricket.
Packer was a media mogul who created a rival form of the game in the mid-1970’s after a TV rights battle with the Australian Cricket Board (ACB).
The series attracted some of cricket’s biggest names at the time – Tony Greig, Imran Khan, Greg Chappell – with its style and format revolutionising the perception of limited overs cricket at an international level.
WSC only lasted for three years (1977-79) but this innovation, along with the related ‘Super Tests’ instigated a change in the game’s direction. Certainly from a TV perspective.
Aspects such as coloured strips, white balls and day/night matches remain in the game to this day.
The reply by cricket’s governing body was to initiate the first cricket World Cup in 1975… and soon after one day internationals (ODI’s) became a fixture in every touring team’s schedule.
This was taken a step further with the introduction of Twenty20 cricket in 2005… and the first ICC World Twenty20 tournament, involving all the major nations, was played in South Africa in 2007.
One day cricket remains the mainstay, in financial terms for the game, with spin-offs like the Indian Premier League (IPL) giving the sport an even higher profile.
What markets are available in cricket betting?
If you’ve ever picked up a copy of Wisden… seen as the cricket lover’s Bible… you’ll know that the sport lends itself to all sorts of statistical analysis.
This means there are tens of different markets that a cricket tipster can get involved with, beside the most obvious as to which team will win the match, Test series or whatever.
Top batsman, top bowler, individual batsman/bowler match bets, next man out, what form of dismissal (bowled, caught, leg before wicket, run out), will a fifty/century be scored in the match, will a hat-trick be taken, highest opening partnership, margin of victory…
You can even get cricket betting tips on the outcome of the next ball of a match (will there be a run scored or not, will a wicket fall, will the bowler bowl a wide or no-ball).
However, this has led to recent spot-fixing scandals causing bans and prison sentences for corrupt players who have taken money to effect these markets.
A game which sees a lot of scoring plays, and has a lot of statistical data, lends itself very well to betting. In this sense there is a very definite parallel to draw with US Sports like NFL and baseball… cricket’s American cousin!
Any cricket betting expert could show you any number of ways to make money betting on cricket markets.
And modern changes in the game, to a much faster paced sport, means that you’re not waiting five days for a payout!
Cricket is right on the money now for in-play trading… in fact, the sport’s governing body have almost created the perfect medium for betting.
Excellent TV coverage, an abundant supply of web-based data, speedy matches and all manner of cricket betting markets now make this sport a growing sector for profit-making.
If cricket betting appeals to you, I know I can help you. Making money with cricket tips is 100% achievable.
