I have found that the cricket spreads have provided me with excellent profits. And I would venture that for any individual who follows the game seriously, the potential to get ahead and stay ahead of the spread betting firms is relatively high compared to other sports.
For many there is no need to look beyond betting in running on the Total Innings Runs market. Test match series see a flurry of markets based on individual batting and bowling performances. For example, Kevin Pietersen may be quoted at 300-330 runs during an entire 5 match test series equating at just 33 runs in each of the ten innings. However the paradox that a good batting performance in the first innings of a Test makes it less likely that his side will need to bat again for any long period. You can find yourself cheering his contribution and yet hoping that the rest of the side is dismissed fairly cheaply, though not so cheap that he runs out of partners, thus making a second innings and an opportunity to score lots more runs inevitable.
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There is also the possibility that England take the first 3 tests making their victory in the series complete, in this circumstance it is likely that Kevin Pietersen be withdrawn for the final two matches and therefore not capable of extra runs.
For this reason the recommended bet for Cricket is the total innings runs market which is simply a show of how many runs the selected team will make during their innings. There are two different ways to make excess profits when targeting this market:
During a test innings on a flat surface with dry/hot conditions and no interruptions a test innings score of around 500 will put the team in a good position. On a day where there is lots of cloud cover and an un-even pitch the ball may turn and swing erratically making a score of 230 look more reasonable.
Many choosing to have a spread bet on an innings wait to hear the 'pitch report' that is broadcast prior to the start of play. This tactic is fine, though a pitch report which is not in keeping with general conditions is going to effect the spread. So if there is any hint of a poor pitch it's best not to hang around too much – the most frustrating position to be caught in is dithering over selling when the pitch is clearly going to play worse than expected. Waiting for a few overs, only to see two wickets fall and the quote drop is one of those unfortunate 'if only' situations.
So to make some good profits in this market you just need to do a bit of research into the weather where the match is being played for that day and the day before (the weather for the previous night will affect how the ground is playing) and then you can get in before the spread changes at the announcement of the pitch report.
Again I am going to bring up that the public is generally over zealous and will hugely affect the spread, just watch next time a wicket is taken and the spread drops 40-50 runs even though the next batsman up is world class and likely to hit more now he has come in earlier! The same goes when a player hits a big 6, if you see that the player is swinging for a lot of big sixes it is likely he is going to get struck out soon so you would be wise to SELL the runs.
Just follow how play is going and check how much the spread over-reacts to dropped wickets or a flurry of runs and BUY/SELL accordingly.
Cricket is today a very popular sport and dates back to the early 16th century in the United Kingdom. However, cricket is not only popular in England, over the years its popularity has spread around the world especially in countries that formed part of the former British Empire. Spread betting is especially suited for cricket and huge numbers of punters are having a try at cracking it, either because they think there's substantial monies to be made, or just to liven up an afternoon at Lords.
Spread betting on cricket might seem daunting at first, but the principle is quite straightforward -:
Let's suppose Ricky Ponting comes to the crease, with Spreadex offering a spread for how many runs he'll make of 52-56, roughly around his career average. You believe Ponting is past it - and besides Graeme Swann is turning it sideways - so you decide to 'sell' 52 at £1 a run.
If he's out for a duck you just made £52. If he has one of 'those' days and proceeds to clatter the England attack for three full hours in the process of knocking up 156, then I'm afraid you're down £104. Ouch, you should have bought 56. Though you'd probably have understood that things were slipping away from you and done a deal with Spreadex to close out the spreadbet before the bet seriously started to hurt... The attraction of spread betting is that of course the more right you are, the more you win. And vice-versa - the more wrong you are, the more you lose. So if you're a newcomer, have a couple of practice runs first up.
At the top ranks there are Test matches which consist of 5-day matches between international teams and are made up of some of the elite of the best of domestic teams. Test matches now attract tens of thousands of spreadbets as spread traders buy and sell constantly at various points in-play' depending on how the game is unfolding. Single-day international games are also played, which are then limited to 50 overs per team. There are also Twenty20 cricket should you prefer not to follow 6-hour or days-long matches. Twenty20 cricket is a new form of play which lasts about three and a half hours and is limited to one innings a side, each limited to 20 overs. Irrespective of the type of match you prefer, the betting tactics are quite similar.
Test cricket is very adaptable for spread betting purposes and while football may be the most popular sports, a high scoring football match may only consist of 5 or 6 goals. However, a cricket match can have as many as 1,500 (if not more) runs which translates into huge possible returns (and losses!). Often team innings or batsmen runs can result in very volatile movements, which movements can mirror the range of movements in the stock markets and present plenty of opportunities for punters to make large gains by using their knowledge of the cricket game.
Cricket spread betting is not limited in scope to just batsmen or team runs either. There are numerous sports events to choose from offering less risk or focusing on particular aspects of a cricket match, including; Number of sixes, fours, wides (punts on the number of sixes, fours or wides in a cricket game or over a series), Supremacy (predicted winning margin of one team over another either in runs or wickets), Batsmen Ton Ups (number of runs scored above 100 by any batsmen), 1st 15 over runs (prediction of number of runs scored in first 15 overs of a game), Fall of Next Wicket (prediction of what the score will be when the next wicket is taken) or Bowler Performance (10 points awarded per wicket taken by each bowler, 25 points awarded for five wicket haul).
It is worth noting that most of the Test cricket sports spread betting markets are traded in-running for the whole duration of the Test with the most popular markets being -:
- Team runs: here a quote is established for the number of expected runs a team is likely to score in an innings and the punter has to bet whether they think it will be higher or lower than the market.
- Batsman runs: will a batsman manage to score more or less runs than the quoted spread?
- Session runs: here you buy or sell relative to whether you think a team will score more or less runs than the quoted market in a session.
- First wicket runs: here a market is made on how many runs a team is likely to score before the first wicket goes down - will this be more or less than the provider's quote? This market is replicated for the second, third, fourth wickets..etc.
- 25 Index: the team that wins Test score 25 pts and if the match ends in a draw/tie or is abandoned both teams are awarded 10pts. The losing team will get null points. Here, you buy or sell relative to how you believe the team will perform.
Keep in mind that prices get updated on a constant basis, so keep an eye on how line spreads are moving. Best of luck.
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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