About Test Cricket
Test match cricket is the oldest and most traditional form of cricket. The first officially recognised Test match took place in March 1877, played between Australia and England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
Test cricket is best known as the longest format of cricket and is also considered as the game’s highest standard. It is a match composed of four innings (two per side) and the match can last as long as 5 days. Hence why this format of cricket is called ‘tests’ due to its long, gruelling nature, testing players both physically and mentally.
Test matches are only played between national teams. There are currently only twelve national teams that are allowed to play Test match cricket, as countries are only allowed to play once they have been granted ‘Test Status’ by the International Cricket Council.
However, at a domestic level, in order to prepare players for Test cricket, there is a similar format of Test cricket known as First-Class cricket. The match is still composed of 4 innings, but it is only played over 4 days.
There are some very competitive First-Class cricket tournaments across the world. Usually, the more the competitive the Fist-Class tournament, the more successful a Test national team will be. For example, there is the Sheffield Shield in Australia, the County Championship in England, and the Ranji Trophy in India.
On the Test match cricket scene, before 2019, tournaments were rare. Instead, there was, and there still is, competitive Test match series played between Test nations. Series can be anywhere between 2 and 5 matches. With usually the more competitive series being 4 or 5 Test matches.
For example, the most famous, and one of the longest running rivalries in all of sport, is the Ashes, which is played between England and Australia. This Test series is typically composed of 5 matches and has had some of, arguably, the greatest series of all time, like the 2005 Ashes. Australia are the current holders of Ashes after winning the 2021/22 Ashes four nil.
However, as of 2019 the Word Test Championship was introduced. A tournament that is played over two years and is composed of teams playing each other in series. With the final being decided by a table of highest percentage wins.
The finalists for this tournament were India and New Zealand, with New Zealand ending up winning the match by 8 wickets and therefore winning the inaugural tournament. The current edition of the World Test Championship is ongoing rom 2021 to 2023. Australia and South Africa are currently the top two sides in league as of writing.
How To Bet on Test Matches
Sports betting is when a person attempts to predict the future outcome of a certain sporting event, match, or in-play moment. Test match cricket is therefore a format of cricket in which one is able to place bets on, whether that be on First-Class cricket tournament, international series, match within series or in-play within a match, of which there is lots of time for.
Before betting on the Test match or First-Class cricket, it is important to have a good basic level of knowledge about the game of cricket, including knowledge about the rules of cricket and also how the format works.
To further enhance your betting experience and hopefully increase the likelihood of it being more successful, ideally you want to have some good background knowledge about the teams and players participating in the tournament, series, or match.
Once you have decided you are betting on Test match cricket and that you a sufficient basic knowledge about cricket and the teams and players participating, you then choose which betting site you want to bet with. There are a few key factors when determining which betting site to bet with.
For instance, it is important to consider the available bets and betting odds between different betting sites to make sure you are getting the best offer for the bet that you want to make.
Additionally look carefully for different advantages that betting sites may provide, such as, welcome bonuses, promotional offers (e.g., cashback offers), and live streaming and betting.
Furthermore, it is imperative for potential better to consider the security and trustworthiness of the betting site. In order to do this, potential betters should read through online reviews about the site to learn about previous user experiences and the customer support offered available.
When you have decided which site to use you can then choose what type of bet you want to make. For example, betting on a tournament winner, a match winner, a series winner, or who you think will be the top run scorer in a match.
Once you have decided which betting site to use and the type of bet you want to make, it is then time to create an account and register with the betting company of your choice, where you will then need to place a deposit down so that your account has funds available for you to bet with.
Now that you have money on the betting site, you then choose which particular bet or bets you want to place and how much money out of your deposit you want to place on your bet. Once you have finalised this then it is time to place your bet and keep up to date with what is happening in the sporting event, to see whether you win or not!
Test Tournament Betting
Outright markets are usually the first market accessible and simplest form of betting for betting fans for Test cricket.
In Test cricket, most matches will be typically part of a larger series, like the Ashes. Therefore, the outright market for Test match cricket is about betting on who you believe the winner of a series will be.
However, you can also have outright markets on tournaments for Test match and First-Class cricket. For example, one could bet on who they think will be the winner of the World Test Championship. Or for First-Class cricket you could bet on who you believe will win the County Championship tournament in England.
When it comes to tournaments, bookies may also provide punters with ‘each-way’ betting. An each-way bet is offered by bookmakers and consists of two separate bets, including a win bet and a place bet. For example, at the World Test Championship, you could place an each-way bet on Australia to win the tournament and a place bet on them reaching the final.
Furthermore, within a series, punters will also have the option to be able to cash out their bet depending on the series situation. If you are able to cash out your bet the series situation will determine whether you cash out for less or more on what you initially bet.
Other series, that are very competitive, and that one could bet on is the England versus India for the Anthony de Mello Trophy or England versus the West Indies for the Richard-Botham Trophy.
Betting on Test match cricket and on tournaments or series it is important to note which team is playing at home as they will normally be considered as heavy favourites. For example, in the last 10 years India have only lost one Test series at home and this was back in 2012/13 against England.
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Match Betting
Test match betting in cricket involves betting on the result of individual matches within a series or a tournament. When betting on individual matches your match bet would have four options, i.e., betting on Team A to win, Team B to win, a draw or a tie (which has only ever happened twice in the history of Test cricket in over 2000 Test matches played.
For example, a match between Sri Lanka and New Zealand within an international Test series, one could bet on Sri Lanka to win, New Zealand to win, abet on there to be a draw (highly likely if there is rain forecast over the five days), or a bet on the highly unlikely tie.
As mentioned earlier it is typical for individual Test matches to be played in the context of a series. Therefore, depending on the series situation, matches can have a different level of risk associated with them.
This is because some matches will be of greater importance than others and consequently some matches will be of higher risk than others. For example, if the Ashes was poised at 2-2 leading into the final match of the series it would be the equivalent of playing in final with the winner of that match also winning the series which would hugely increase the magnitude, pressure, and risk of the match.
Furthermore, especially due to the long nature of a Test match betting fans may also be able to cash out their bet depending on the match situation. The match situation will determine whether you cash out for less or more on what you initially bet.
Additionally, match betting can also include the pre match coin toss to see who will bat or bowl first.
Player Betting
Cricket is about taking wickets and making runs, so betting markets offer bets on how many runs a batsmen may make or how many wickets a bowler may take. In Test match cricket bookies offer punters bets on who will be the highest run scorer or wicket taker in an innings.
Options can also be offered for doubles, where one can bet on who will be the top run scorer/top wicket taker for each side in an innings.
For player betting, betting sites will also provide bets on players to reach individual milestones, whether that be for batting or bowling. For players earning runs in a match, a punter can place a bet on any player from either side to score more than fifty runs or more than one hundred runs. Whilst for bowlers taking wickets, a bet can be placed on bowlers from either side to take five or more wickets in an innings.
In Test cricket because there are two batting/bowling innings per side, a player bet may also include taking wickets or making runs across two innings. For example, punters could bet on a bowler to take 10 or more wickets in a match (in 2 innings).
Be sure to look at a player’s batting or bowling average before betting as this is likely to imply which batsmen or bowler is likely to make the most runs or take the most wickets.
Bookies also provide punters with different options other than just milestones for batsmen. For batsmen, punters are able to bet on over/under options for a certain number of runs (e.g., a batsman’s average) for a batsman to score or the number of fours or sixes they may hit in their innings.
In-play betting on players is also offered by betting sites. Top bowler markets are normally closed when the match starts, but top batting markets remain open.
Within in-play betting markets you are also able to place bets on options such as which of the two batsmen who are currently batting you believe will be out next and also by mode of which dismissal you think a batsman who is currently batting would be out.
Also, for in-play bowling options this could include an over/under options for how many runs they might concede in an over or for what might happen on the next ball (e.g., a dot, wicket, or four runs).
Additionally, match betting can also focus on individual performances, for example, betting on who will be the player of the match.
Team Betting
Similar to individual player betting, there are also team bets. This is more typical for a team’s batting innings. Like individual player scores, betting sites also provide options for a team to score over/under or between a certain number of runs during their batting innings.
There is also an in-play option to continue betting on the team score throughout a batting innings or also cash out your original bet.
In Test cricket it is difficult to predict how many runs a team may score, because this can be highly conditional on external factors. For example, the pitch and the weather have a huge bearing on what would be considered as a ‘par’ total and also it depends on which team you are playing against and the bowlers they have in their team.
However, in order to increase the probability of having a more successful bet it may therefore be worth looking at previous scores at the ground to see what a good ‘par’ total has been in the past.
Punters are also given the option to bet on whether they think a team will score more or less than a certain number of fours, sixes or total boundaries during a team’s batting innings.
This frequency of sixers is far less in Test cricket compared to limited over cricket because in Tests there is no need to try and score quickly due to the long time frame and hitting sixers are considered as risky shots.
Test Match Betting Specials
‘Special markets’ are also provided by bookies to punters. ‘Special markets’ offer betters with interesting and potentially different bets to the previously mentioned. These are usually random outside bets that typically have longer odds and are often labelled as ‘specials’.
Special market bets could typically include unusual bets. For example, special bets may include both teams to score more than 400 runs in their first innings or for a player to score 200 runs in an innings or for a player in Team A to take 8 or more wickets in the match and for Team A to win.
Special markets can also include various combinations of bets such as one player to make fifty or more runs, another player to take 5 or more wickets, and a third different player to take 4 or more catches in an innings and these bets are packaged together to make a ‘special’ which would typically have longer odds.
Betting on the Ashes
The Ashes is considered to be one the most prestigious and popular events in all of cricket. It is a Test Series played between England and Australia, hosted alternately roughly every two years and traditionally consists of five Test Matches.
The Ashes is one of the longest-running rivalries in all of sport, with the story of the Ashes beginning way back in 1882 when England were beaten at home at the Oval for the first time by Australia. At the time, the series defeat shocked the sporting world and prompted The Sporting Times to print a satirical story on the ‘death of English Cricket’.
This story was the first time the term ‘Ashes’ was used. It was the following tour, in 1882-83, when English captain Ivo Bligh had vowed to “regain those ashes” and the English media subsequently dubbed the tour as the quest to regain the Ashes. Consequently, since the 1882-83 series the Ashes has been etched into cricket folklore.
The Ashes is not only one of the longest-running rivalries in all of sport, but it is also one of the greatest. It is famous because of the amazing sporting moments it has produced, like the Bodyline series, Botham’s Ashes, 2005 and, more recently, Headingly 2019. These moments were produced by some of the greatest players to ever play the game, Sir Don Bradman, Lord Botham, Ricky Ponting, Ben Stokes, and the late, great Shane Warne.
Popular tv-based sports events like the Ashes are a huge attraction for betting fans. It is exemplified by sporting events such as the Super Bowl, FIFA World Cup Final and major boxing matches like Floyd Mayweather versus Manny Pacquaio. These events typically have millions viewers globally and bookmakers provide players with tempting odds and a long list of betting markets which, in turn, entice a huge number of betting fans.
Ashes betting is when you try to predict the future of a particular Test Match. Alternatively you might have a bet on the series as a whole. In order to bet on The Ashes, you firstly have to pick which betting site you would like to bet with. When choosing it is important to consider what offers that a betting site will offer.
Before choosing which betting site you want to bet with it is also important to choose which sporting market you want to bet on, for example, cricket or football. When choosing which sporting market to bet you want to have a good level of knowledge about the Ashes itself and ideally you want to have some background knowledge about the teams and players participating in the event itself.
Ashes Series Betting
Series outright market is usually the simplest and first market accessible to betting fans for the Ashes. Series outright markets for the Ashes is about betting on the series as a whole. Therefore, the series outright market includes betting on the series winner, i.e., who you believe will win the series and take the urn out of Australia and England. It can also be more specific, and punters can bet on the correct series score, for example, 2-1 to England, 5-0 to Australia or a 2-2 draw.
Furthermore, series outright markets include betting on who will be the highest individual wicket taker and highest individual run scorer for the series. This can be either for the series as whole out of both England and Australia or it can also comprise of highest run scorer or wicket taker for each individual country. Betting fans can also bet on most runs/wickets doubles, betting on who will be the highest run scorer/wicket taker from either country.
Ashes Matches
Match betting in cricket involves betting on the result of individual matches within a series. In relationship to the Ashes this would involve betting on matches within the series, (e.g., the first match of the series) and betting on the result match including whether one believes Australia or England will win, or if it will be a draw, or in the very rare instance in Test cricket, a tie.
Test cricket is dissimilar to the other formats of crickets as it is composed of two innings, where a team will bat and bowl twice in a match. Therefore, within match betting punters are able to bet on which team will get a first innings lead, i.e., which team will score more runs at the end of their respective first innings. Thus, the betting options include Team A, Team B, or a tie.
Match betting can also focus on individual performances, for example, betting on who will be the player of the match. Additionally, it includes betting on who will be the highest run scorer or wicket taker, and this can be for either the match or at the end of the first innings for both teams or just one of the two competing teams.
Furthermore, before each match the two captains will toss a coin to decide who will bat and who will bowl. In cricket betting punters are able to place a bet on which team will win the toss.
Ashes Player Betting
Cricket is about taking wickets and making runs, so betting markets offer bets on how many runs a batsman may make or how many wickets a bowler may take. For batsmen and bowlers offers are made for each player in each innings of a match for who might make the most runs or take the most wickets for each respective team. Options are also offered for doubles, where one can bet on who will be the top run scorer for each side in an innings.
Bookies also provide punters with options to bet on whether a batsmen or bowler will reach a certain milestone. For players earning runs in a match, a punter can place a bet on any player from either side to score more than fifty runs or more than one hundred runs. Whilst for bowlers taking wickets, a bet can be placed on bowlers from either side to take three or more and five or more wickets in a singular innings or for a bowler to take ten or more wickets in a match (across two innings).
Player betting also provides different options other than just milestones for batsmen and bowlers. For batsmen, punters are able to bet on over/under options for a certain number of runs for a batsman to score and the number of fours or sixes they may hit when a batsmen would be currently batting.
Additionally, you are also able to place bets on which of the two batsmen who are currently batting you believe will be out next and also by mode of which dismissal you think a batsmen who is currently batting would be out.
Ashes Team Betting
Similar to individual player betting, there are also team bets. This is more typical for a team’s batting innings. Cricket betting companies provide options for a team to score over or under a certain number of runs during their batting innings.
Like betting on the total number of runs in a batting innings, punters are also given the option to bet on whether they think a team will score more or less than a certain number of fours, sixes or total boundaries during a team’s batting innings.
Ashes specials
Bookies also offer ‘special markets’ whereby they provide punters with interesting and potentially different bets to the previously mentioned. These are usually random outside bets that typically have longer odd and are often labelled as ‘specials’.
Special market bets could typically include unusual bets such as someone taking a hattrick, for there to be a ‘mankad’, or a wicketkeeper to take a catch in each innings. Special markets can also include various combinations of bets such as a batsman to make one hundred plus runs, a bowler to take five plus wickets, and a fielder to take two catches and these bets are packaged together to make a ‘special’ which would typically have longer odds.
