Spread betting on cricket
ENGLAND’S five-Test series against India is finely poised after a draw in the opener at Trent Bridge last week.
Ahead of the second Test at Lord’s, Sporting Index have priced up a huge range of cricket markets. Cricket and spread betting have always been a match made in heaven and it really is the most exciting way to bet on the sport.
The simplest market is the supremacy spread. For the first innings, traders have England/India trading at 10-30. Essentially, that means they believe England will score 20 more runs than the tourists in the first innings.
If you disagree and believe the supremacy will be less than 10 – ie. India can score more runs than the favourites – then you would sell at 10. And if you believed England’s supremacy was underestimated you would buy at 30. Your profit or loss is calculated by how right or wrong you are.
Each batsman is also given a spread on his runs. This is a volatile market with those going for a duck proving costly for buyers, but big totals mean big wins. Alastair Cook’s spread is 78-85. If you bought at 85 and Cook hit a century, you would make a profit of 15 times your stake. If he only hits 10, though, you would lose 75 times your stake.
You can also challenge bowlers’ performance. James Anderson’s bowling index is quoted at 45-50, for example, with 10 pts awarded per wicket taken and a 25 pt bonus for a five-wicket haul in an innings.
Bowlers may well struggle on another dead wicket, however, so bettors might want to oppose them.