Looking for a new game to bet on, and want to learn a little about a new sport along the way, then why not consider Cricket? Millions already do, even though many North American bettors (and most Europeans!) are generally oblivious to the rules of a game that seems to mimic their beloved game of Baseball, yet seems to go on forever!
To break it down for you, Cricket is a pretty simple sport. It’s played on a large oval field, with a rectangular pitch set up in the middle that has 2 two-feet-tall, 10-inch wide wickets on each end. Each team fields 11 players, and they both take turns batting (scoring runs) and fielding/bowling (getting the opposition’s batsmen out). The team with the most runs at the end wins.
How do they score runs? Two bowlers and two batsmen operate in tandem. The bowlers’ primary objective is to hit the wickets with a ball, in which case the batsman is out. The batsmen, protects his wicket and tries to hit the ball, but he doesn’t have to run if he thinks he’ll be thrown out. So when he hits the ball, he scores runs by running back and forth from wicket to wicket tagging them with his bat, before the fielding team retrieves the ball or throws him out. Each run is work a point (usually a batsman manage 1-3 runs). He get to stay at bat until he is out. That’s why games can last for days! And to boot, there is no foul territory! The entire oval is in play so balls can be hit in any direction and angle, all 360 degrees! The usual score seems quite high in comparison to Baseball, as a batsman’s aim is to score a hundred or more runs also known as ‘centuries’.
Now that you know the basics, how to apply your new skills? Why not bet on the Cricket World Cup 2015? It’s one of the biggest Cricket events ever organized! It began in Australia and New Zealand on February 14th. 14 teams are participating that are split into two groups, the tournament consists of 42 largely meaningless games, but are followed by a playoff round of 7 really important ones.
The main players this year, who will try to take the championship away from reigning India are Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. But there should be some upsets with great odds to play just like there were in the FIFA World Cup this past year. So here’s what you need to know to make the best bet.
Our Picks:
Winner: Australia
The fact that they are the home team, and that no team came close to challenging Australia on their home turf in any way this year. With only a few loses they were overall winner, dominating everyone. They have great batsmen combined with a fast bowling pace that will be hard to beat. Their dangerous players to watch out for are David Warner and James Falkner.
Runner-up: South Africa
Having been in the shadow of many champions in the previous many think this will be the year that South Africa will break through and win their first trophy. They have top players and have broken records such as fastest ODI century. Players to lookout for are AB De Villiers, Faf Du Plessis, David Miller. Australia has bowlers that are batting friendly so you can expect South Africa to make a serious challenge for the cup as Australia is mostly likely the only team in their way.
Dark Horse: New Zealand
They are co-hosts of the tournament, and like the Aussies they have also humiliated visiting teams. Most experts agree, this is probably the best New Zealand team ever assembled so far in any World Cup competition. It’s a well balanced team with hard hitters, inning stabilizers, quick bowlers and not to forget, really good fielders. Home advantage and their recent all round winning performances should put them in contention and they might pull off an upset.
