Betfair Official Blog

Cricket betting mad nation

Australia's success on the international scene, and the health of the domestic game, ensure that cricket betting is hugely popular nationwide.

Cricket has traditionally been the no. 1 sport in the country, and the domestic game reflects that.

The Pura Cup has produced exciting cricket over the past decade, but proved to be such a level competition that those studying form for cricket betting have had their work cut out.

In its time as the Sheffield Shield, New South Wales and Western Australia had both had periods of domination, though Queensland won three titles in a row from 1999-00.

Since that run of success, though, no one team has dominated cricket betting and indeed no state has won back-to-back championships.

The Tasmanian Tigers made history in 2006-07 when, in what was batting ace Michael Bevan's last season, they defied the odds to win their first title for more than 30 years.

Last season belonged to the New South Wales Blues, and in particular to their captain Simon Katich.

Those with bets on the Blues were rewarded right from the start of the campaign, when they beat Western Australia in Perth by 275 runs.

But from round two, the odds shortened on them winning each successive game after Katich plundered 306 runs in the first innings of the drawn match against Queensland.

He followed that with another century against South Australia in round three, and scored 141 in the first innings of the draw against Victoria in round five.

Further highlights included 189 against Western Australia as Katich finished the season with 1,506 runs - nearly 500 more than his nearest rival.

Cricket betting was not as straightforward as simply having a bet on New South Wales, though, as Victoria also had an excellent season.

The Bushrangers, ably led by captain Cameron White, finished joint-top of the Pura Cup standings with 39 points.

They lost to Western Australia by 288 runs in round two at the MCG, but their odds started to shorten once they got into their stride.

Gerard Denton took 6/32 as Tasmania were beaten by an innings in their next game, and they began to attract serious bets following the round four win over Queensland, where Brad Hodge scored an unbeaten 286.

But in the end, it was those with bets on New South Wales who celebrated after the Pura Cup final, as they beat the Bushrangers by 258 runs.

Doug Bollinger of New South Wales and Queensland's Ashley Noffke were the most successful bowlers during the season. Bollinger took 10 wickets in a match on two occasions and finished with 45 for the season, two more than Noffke.

Victoria were equally disappointed to lose the Ford Ranger Cup final, where Tasmania picked up their second title in four years at the Bellerive Oval.

But there is still no-one to touch the Bushrangers in the KFC Twenty20 Big Bash, Victoria having won all three finals.

Follow the changing cricket odds throughout the season with Betfair.