Below are illustrations of how the various markets work in cricket, using actual games by way of example.
The volatility figure is a rough guide to how likely major swings in make-ups are.
The telephone minimum bet figure per point is also shown, though this will vary from firm to firm, and will probably be less for internet and certain other types of account.
| Market | Volatility | Minimum Bet (£) |
| Supremacy | Medium | 2 |
| Team or Batsman Runs | Medium - High | 1 |
| Performance indexes | Low-medium | varies |
| Player Performance | Medium | 2 |
| 50-Ups, 100-Ups | Medium | 2 |
|
In test matches, the supremacy market is based on difference in total runs scored in the first innings between the two sides. In one day games, since the side batting second only needs to surpass that of the other side by one run, it is based on 1 point per run won by and 10 points per wicket run by.
Volatility : medium
Example : ICC Trophy Final England/West Indies 10 - 20, Stake £5 per point
If you think England will win by more than 20 runs or 2 wickets, then you would BUY England supremacy at 20.
If you think West Indies will win, then you would SELL England supremacy at 10
Result : West Indies won by 2 wickets
If you bought England superiority you lose 40 x £5 = -£200
If you sold England Superiority you win 20 x £5 = £100
Run markets can relate to either an individual game or an entire series or competition. Team Runs in test matches is more volatile than one one day games, where run scoring is limited by the number of overs allotted.
Example : Trescothick Tournament Runs 195 - 200, Stake £2 per point
If you think there is a good chance Trescothick will run up some big scores, then you would BUY Trescothick Tournament Runs at 200
If you think he is likely to struggle against fierce bowling, then you would SELL Trescothick Tournament Runs at 195.
Result : Trescothick makes 261 runs in the tournament
If you bought Trescothick Runs you win 61 x £2 = £122
If you sold Trescothick Runs you lose 66 x £2 = -£132
Performance indexes can relate to one-off head-to-head clashes (generally 25-10-0), to a series of games where there is one index for each game and the make-up is the total, or to a tournament where a number of teams are involved, where the maximum make-up might be 60 or 100.
Volatility : low for one-off clashes, medium for markets consisting of a number of clashes.
Example : England 13.5 - 15, West Indies 8.5 - 10
If you think England will win, then you would BUY England supremacy at 15 (or alternatively SELL West Indies at 8.5).
If you think West Indies have a good chance of getting a result, then you would BUY West Indies on the Performance Index at 10 (or alternatively SELL England at 13.5).
Assuming your stake is £10 per point :
Result : West Indies beat England by 2 wickets
If you bought England you lose 15 x £10 = -£150
If you sold England you win 13.5 x £10 = £135
If you bought West Indies you win 15 x £10 = £150
If you sold West Indies you lose 8.5 x £10 = -£85
Example : A Flintoff performance 62 - 67
Care must be taken when it comes to performance markets because each spread firm calculates the make-up in slightly different ways, so they are not always identical. However, in cricket, the general criteria used are 1pt per run, 10 pts per catch, 20 pts per wicket, and 25 pts per stumping.
Thus if you think Flintoff will score plenty of runs and / or take lots of wickets, then you would BUY Flintoff Performance at 67.
If you think the opposite you could SELL Flintoff Performance at 62.
Assuming your stake is £5 per point :
Result : Flintoff scored 3 (runs) + 0 (catches) + 60 (wickets) = make-up 63
If you bought Flintoff performance you lose 4 x £5 = -£40
If you sold Flintoff performance you lose 1 x £5 = -£5
Example : England v West Indies 63 - 70
This is the total runs scored once players have gone past 50, so if a player scores 67 then 17 counts towards the mark-up. A similar market exists for 100-ups.
Thus if you think the possibilites are good for a number of players to make big scores, you could BUY 50-Ups at 70.
Alternatively, if you thought it unlikely there would be many big scores,you could SELL 50-Ups at 63.
Assuming your stake is £5 per point :
Result : none of the players score, therefore the make-up is 0.
If you bought 50-Ups you lose 36 x £5 = -£180
If you sold 50-Ups you win 32 x £5 = £160
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