Due to the sheer number of people who enjoy watching and even playing cricket, the game has grown to be a superb sports betting favourite.
But while hundreds of thousands of people the world over enjoy a great deal of success betting on cricket because of their having even as much as only a basic understanding of the game, countless others have no other option but to sit out.
This is because even though cricket has got to be one of the easiest games on the planet to follow by the bettor who grew up familiar with the game, to the cricket newbie, there’s probably nothing more frustrating than trying to tell the pitch from the strip from the track from the wicket – only to find it that there is no difference. A practical example of the devil being in the lingo!
And so, it stands to reason that before jumping right into the deep side of the cricket betting pool, it makes sense to first get a grip on the basic rules, or layout, of the game before actually throwing any money at it.
A Game Of Bat-And-Ball
Cricket is basically a game of bat-and-ball. A typical cricket ball is quite hard, not heavier than 163 grams, and no larger than 22.9 cm in circumference. Typically red (for maximum visibility), cricket balls are generally made of layers of wool and cork covered with an outer leather covering.
Bats, on the other hand, are crafted out of willow wood, and can be as heavy or as light as preferred. The maximum allowable length of a cricket bat is however fixed at 965 mm, and the width at 108 mm.
These are pretty much the basics of the tools needed to play a good old game of bat-and-ball. We mention all of this for the purpose of driving the idea home that cricket, as a famous batsman once explained what the best way would be to go about playing a tricky type of pitch, is simply a game of putting “bat to ball”.
Simple information perhaps, but important information to the bettor wanting to build from a proper foundation up.
Cricket Isn’t Baseball
Important to remember too, is that cricket is very different to baseball in terms of how the game is umpired. Since MLB has become one of the most popular leagues to bet on, its important to highlight some of the key differences between the rules followed in each game.
In cricket, the number of swings and misses don’t count. “Striking out” isn’t possible, because in cricket, there are no balls or strikes. Also, there’s no such thing as a foul. All territory is good territory to accumulate those runs.
And as far as runs go, “running” is never mandatory. Even though the team with the highest number of runs after a certain number of balls have been played wins, running is only ever a good idea when it is safe to do so.
And that, in a nutshell, is everything the cricket-betting-beginner needs to know to get off to a great start.
