The best cricket betting sites in the UK

Thu, Nov 10, 2022 17:59 CET

Cricket betting sites are a mainstay of the online casino sports books and there are very good reasons for this, some of which we’ll explore later. But not all online casinos are the same, so what should you look for and which sites are best to use?

Cricket betting can be found at Space Casino, a fun and user-friendly online casino that has a surprising amount of depth, as well as hundreds of slots, live casino tables, virtual sports and esports.

Cricket betting sites should be able to offer plenty of betting options and be easy to navigate, not to mention provide customer-friendly odds for you to truly get your teeth into.

The top 5 cricket betting sites

There are many choices out there when it comes to cricket betting sites in the UK. The sport itself is highly popular, so you might expect that. But not all online casinos, and therefore cricket markets, are equal. Many things go into what makes a top quality online casino, not to mention what makes an engaging market for specific sports, so we’ve put together a list of those that we think are among the best:

Space Casino
Paddy Power
Ladbrokes
William Hill
Coral

Space Casino

Space Casino is the T20 to other online casino’s Test cricket. Fun, colourful and easy to follow, its focus on customer-friendly design, favourable odds and fantastic customer service is what can only be described as welcoming.

The cricket market is easy to get stuck into, but carries plenty of depth for what is a complex sport with a huge array of betting options. These are, as is typical, related to the competition and its type, so you might see more options for International Test cricket than you would for more localised One Day games.

There are, as alluded to before, plenty of smaller competitions to choose from as well, so you need not feel that you are held to playing the larger competitions or games, which can be a breath of fresh air for many customers. This is definitely a hidden gem that you should try at least once.

Paddy Power

Betting sites for cricket, or any sports, will always need to include Paddy Power, if only for their ubiquitous marketing campaigns and cartoonish style. While that might not be everyone’s cup of tea, it shouldn’t hide the fact that this is an online casino with a huge array of markets and betting options.

Each cricket betting site has its own way of presenting the market, with some taking an all stats and no frills approach, while others like to jazz it up a bit. While the latter is something you’d expect from Paddy Power, the strength of presentation goes beyond the simplicity of playfulness and allows for a great depth of stats and options.

If you’ve been put off by Paddy Power’s tendency for caricatures and edgy reputation, we suggest you have another look as there’s more than meets the eye for what is one of the UK’s most popular online casinos.

Ladbrokes

For a casino that seems to have been around as long as gambling itself, dating back to 1886 in case you were wondering, Ladbrokes was very adept at making itself relevant in the online casino world. Cutting edge while also producing a trustworthy feel, the balance for the entire website feels pitch perfect.

Cricket betting sites are often most impressive with those that have a history with the sport, and Ladbrokes certainly falls under that category. Grown up it might be, but it also understands the leaps forwards the sport has taken in recent years, most notably with the popularity of T20.

Women’s cricket is also well catered for here, with both minor and major events presenting betting options in surprising ways. Of course, the smaller the event, the less likely these options will be deep, but that there are some of the more obscure events to wager on is itself a plus.

William Hill

Cricket betting sites come in many different forms, in the case of William Hill it’s a straightforward affair where the betting itself is front and centre. There are no gimmicks here, just a very strong online casino that is as trusted as any you’ll find on the high street or Internet.

The market for cricket is very strong for William Hill, something you might expect from one of the largest online betting platforms in the UK, so you’ll be sure to find something to suit your tastes, including some of the more obscure choices.

The site itself is easy to navigate, allowing you to play with the huge amounts of options for all sports without feeling you’re getting lost. There are many different types of bets according to the type of cricket, as well, which is wonderfully deep and immersive for both experienced and new players.

Coral

While Coral is intrinsically linked to Ladbrokes, the fact of the matter is it has carved out its own personality and flavour, one that is both unique and beloved by its many patrons. There are similarities between the two, for sure, but these are largely superficial and it’s worth judging each site on its own merits.

As a cricket betting site, it’s a stripped down affair that is easy to play around with. There are plenty of betting options as well, with plenty of markets within the sport catered for. As with everything related to Coral, the mercifully sparse lay out is welcoming and something that might lend itself to less experienced players.

Coral should be seen as a serious betting site that offers depth for those looking for something a little bit different. It’s also great for many other sports markets. So if you like what it offers for cricket, it’s worth looking at the other sports on the site.

Why choose cricket betting sites

Each sport has its own pros and cons when it comes to betting, with some sports more conducive for depth than others. This is partly down to the popularity of the sport in question. Football, for example, would find a way to provide all kinds of betting as its audience is so large to begin with. It just so happens that there are many ins for online casinos to provide different bets.

Another part of the reason football is great for betting is it’s a free flowing game, which allows for in play bets and side bets such as corners and cards.

Cricket is the opposite in some ways, it’s a sport that works as little bursts of action, much like American football. Someone once compared English football and American football recognising this fact, with football being described as Jazz by comparison.

So this begs the question, why would anyone use betting sites for cricket? Well cricket has something up its sleeve, statistics. Statistics have always been a large part of cricket, with the almanack Wisden providing in-depth information on the sport for over 150 years. This lends the sport perfectly to betting as it opens up a whole new world of wagering possibilities.

The most popular cricket bets

There is some debate over which are the most popular bets for cricket as cricket betting sites themselves differ greatly in many cases. So it does, to some extent, depend on who you ask.

The following bets are those we’ve come to a consensus around, so you might disagree with those we’ve listed below. However, these are a good place to start if you’re getting into the cricket betting market or want some new ideas to keep your wagering fresh.

Match result
Draw
Total inning’s runs
Top scoring batsman
Best bowler
Competition winner

Match result

The most straightforward of all cricket bets is the match result. But, like all things cricket, the more you scratch the surface, the less simple it becomes. If you like your betting simple, then stick with the simple two horse race bet of who will win, but if you’d like to spice things up a bit, you can add by how many runs the team wins by or what day the match itself will end. This last one might bring out the weatherman in you.

Draw

Talking of the weatherman in you, for Test cricket in particular, wagering on the draw can add a whole new world of betting to the game. Draws are commonplace for cricket, so you’d expect there to be a thriving market for this bet. Knowing the weather forecast, whether the teams have strong batsmen and weak bowlers and current form can all play a part in forming the odds and attractiveness of these bets.

Total Innings score

Just about all cricket betting sites will offer total innings score as a bet and for good reason. This one’s something of a long shot, meaning longer odds. As with all bets, there is a large amount of luck when it comes to this one, but some knowledge of the teams involved, including form, is still key to giving yourself a chance of a winning ticket. This is certainly one of the more exciting bets for the market.

Top scoring batsman

Another popular bet is the top scoring batsman. This is a bet with more depth than you might first expect. Yes you can choose the batsman you think will top score, but you can also bet on what their total innings score will be. This adds some intrigue to what is one of the main markets for cricket, which is why it’s one of the most popular bets you’ll find.

Best bowler

Much like for batsmen, the bowler market has so many possibilities while also presenting the opportunity to bet on longer shots and more obscure outcomes. This very much depends on the online casino itself, but we heartily recommend the various options that this particular market offers. The most simple bet is to choose the bowler who will take the most number of wickets.

Competition winner

This one’s as simple as it gets and mirrors the markets for almost every sport you can think of. Who will win a specific competition? This can be the County Championship, the Ashes, the IPL or a World Cup. Bets can include Each Way (which pays out when your choice comes first or second) and can be mixed with other bets, such as top scoring batsman. It’s always good to know that the classic bets still make up a large part of the market.

Different markets for cricket betting sites

Unlike many sports, cricket has various different codes or versions, which opens up the options for betting enormously. But if you’re not well-versed in the sport, you might find yourself a little lost before you even get going. With that in mind, the following is a very brief guide to the different cricket markets there are. Some bets are universal across them, others are only available for specific types.

Test cricket

The original and, for many, the only form of cricket that matters. Test cricket is typically played over the course of five days, with each team getting two innings (everyone in the team can bat), depending how the game and weather goes. Those who aren’t in the know might see a game that lasts five days and gets rained off as tedious, but the beauty is in the length of the game, not to mention the tension that can build.

One dayers

One day games used to be considered the more immediate and fun of the two types of cricket. It was first introduced in the early 1970’s, over one hundred years after the game was popularised. As the name suggests, it’s played over one day and a set amount of overs, usually 40, 50 or 60. An over is six deliveries and each team gets one innings. It’s now become secondary to the even more fast-paced 20/20 …

T20

As the name suggests, T20, also known as 20/20, describes each team getting just 20 overs each. This leads to spectacular and ever-changing dynamics in the game. It’s not that the batsmen can just launch themselves at scoring, but they’re certainly more free than usual. It’s the format for the hugely popular IPL (Indian Premier League) and is therefore one of the most watched forms of the sport.

Women’s Cricket

Not so much a different form, but an established group of forms in its own right, Women’s cricket has been a major feature of the sport for decades. Unlike many other sports, this means it has roots that make the various forms as depth-filled as the men’s game. The same can be said for the betting market, which serves the sport well and is worth having a look at if you enjoy betting on cricket.

The future of betting on the cricket market

Like all things online casino, cricket betting sites are tantalisingly close to revolutionary changes in how we interact with the market. While it would be impossible to predict where technology and fashions will take the gambling industry as a whole, we have some hints to where it might affect the cricket market specifically.

Virtual reality looks like it will become a huge part of the future of gaming full stop, and there are already some sports that are thriving using the technology, most notably football and horse racing. There’s nothing to stop cricket betting sites becoming the next big thing, although the long form nature of the sport might mean some creative decisions will need to be made for how this will work.

There’s also the possibility of different forms of the game taking root. After all, the one day format only came into being in the early 1970’s and in many ways that’s been surpassed by T20 in recent years, which itself was only popularised in the 2000’s. Cricket as a game has the potential to change in many different ways and, as long as it keeps its essence, will likely remain relevant for the foreseeable future.

Whatever the case, the online casino world will always be at the forefront of any changes to the game, at least in how it presents itself alongside it. The possibilities might be endless, but it does make it hard to predict where it will go. For now, our money is on virtual sports, especially as graphics and presentation improve.