Big Bash Betting Tips

The Big Bash League was established in 2011 by Cricket Australia as the number-one Twenty20 (T20) franchise cricket league Down Under. Featuring eight franchise teams representing cities across Australia, the Big Bash League has brought the razzamatazz of T20 cricket to fans in all four corners of the country.

In fact, it’s now one of the most popular leagues for cricket betting liquidity, along with other successful T20 franchise leagues such as the Indian Premier League. One of the main reasons cricket bettors visit a bookmaker online for Big Bash betting markets is their fluidity. The odds can change with every ball, wicket or boundary. It’s like an all-action Test Match betting market condensed into a few hours instead of five days.

Within this article, we’ll do our best to offer newbie Big Bash League punters some insight with Big Bash betting tips to help you bet on your first Big Bash game.

Key Points

Once you’ve read through our guide to BBL betting, you should be able to understand the following:

1. Big Bash betting tips online are usually influenced by recent form and the general availability of each roster.
2. The fluctuations in T20 cricket betting odds and how to utilise live betting markets to your advantage.
3. The types of statistics and trends to help find in-form players in the Big Bash League.
4. The general league format of the BBL – from the group stage matches to the finals series.
5. The beginner mistakes to avoid when you’re diving into the BBL betting markets for the first time.

Understanding the Basics of T20 Betting

T20 cricket is one of the shortest formats of the sport. Each team bats and bowls for just 20 overs apiece, rather than the 50-over innings used in one-day internationals (ODIs). This means that T20 cricket offers a fast-paced, high-octane version of the game, which can appeal more readily to first-time fans and those with reduced attention spans.

Some would say T20 cricket is the antithesis of Test Match cricket. It’s blood and guts cricket, rather than considered and composed cricket played over four or five gruelling days. That doesn’t mean it’s any less skilful. Far from it, in fact. The specialists in the T20 cricket format have engineered some new spectacular shots with the bat, finding creative ways to score big and fast.

When it comes to Big Bash betting odds, there are many different markets to consider. Most leading cricket betting sites will offer the following markets as a starter for ten:

• Match Winner
  This is a straight-up bet on the eventual winner of a T20 match – typically the most popular market for online cricket betting. 
• Top Batsman/Bowler
  Place your bets on the batter you think will score the most runs across the two innings of a T20 game. 
• Top Team Run Scorer
  Bet on the batter you think will be the highest run scorer in a specific T20 team. 
• Total Match Fours/Sixes
  Bet on how many boundaries or sixes will be scored in an upcoming T20 game. 
• Highest Opening Partnership
  Bet on which team will register the highest opening partnership in a T20 game. 
• To Win the Toss
  Place your bets on which team will win the toss.

Top Big Bash Betting Tips

If you’re intrigued to get to grips with T20 online cricket betting, we’ve got five Big Bash betting tips to get you thinking along the right lines. Of course, our BBL betting tips are no guarantee of becoming a consistent winner in the T20 betting markets. Nevertheless, they should help you decipher which odds offer the most value before a ball has been bowled.

All it takes is a little groundwork to understand the likely dynamics of a Big Bash game. Whether it’s pinpointing the in-form batters or the batters at the other end of the spectrum struggling for runs, or even injury news that stunts a team’s bowling attack, a little research goes a long way to picking winning BBL bets.

Study Recent Form and Stats

Before you bet a cent on the BBL with an online gambling site, you need to get under the skin of the teams and the league as a whole. If the BBL season has already started, which teams have begun the campaign like a house on fire? Similarly, keep an eye on the teams struggling at the bottom of the league. Look for reasons why. 

Are the top teams indebted to the form of a specific batter or bowler? Perhaps a bowler is proving simply unplayable, capable of strangling the opposition by slowing down the run rate or taking wickets at crucial times. A great strike bowler can often be the difference between a team regularly featuring in BBL cricket betting tips throughout the regular season than not.

Are the lower-ranked teams facing a crisis of confidence? Perhaps several high-profile batters in a team aren’t living up to their billing so far this season. Alternatively, it could just be that a team’s recruitment was weak, and their roster is being found out game in, game out. In this case, you might have spotted a team that’s relatively easy to bet against in the Big Bash betting markets.

Keep an Eye on Player Injuries and Squad Changes

The last thing you want when betting on cricket leagues like the BBL is to be caught out with roster changes you hadn’t spotted. The most successful BBL betting experts routinely keep their fingers firmly on the pulse of the latest injury news across the entire BBL. 

The worst-case scenario is finding odds with an online sportsbook that appears to offer value on a team only to discover that these higher odds are caused by a high-profile injury to a key batter or bowler.

Build a list of reliable BBL news sites that you can use to do some pre-game research. Most BBL teams will have their own official websites, providing previews and team updates from their respective head coaches. 

Use Live Betting Features During Matches

We’ve already mentioned that T20 cricket odds fluctuate more readily than those in an ODI or Test Match betting market. As a result, you need to be agile with your BBL betting. This means potentially keeping your powder dry pre-game and considering live betting on BBL matches in play. 

This can be achieved via a licensed cricket betting app. Many online sportsbooks now offer native betting apps on iOS and Android. These platforms also increasingly offer live betting in Australia and elsewhere worldwide. 

The benefit of live betting is that most mobile sportsbooks allow you to cash out bets midway through a BBL contest. What’s the benefit of this? Well, if you back a team to win and they skittle out their opponents for an ultra-low total, leaving them an easy run chase on paper, their odds will have already crashed in. This means there’s more downside potential than upside potential in their odds. In this case, you may benefit from cashing out for a percentage of the overall returns you could get by letting the bet run. 

Of course, there’s always the threat that the easy run chase is not so straightforward, and the demons in the wicket eventually cause you to lose your entire bet. Essentially, live betting on the BBL allows you to place bets based on what you’re seeing with your eyes. If you can become a capable match reader, you can determine when a team is in the ascendancy.

Analyse Player Performance Trends Specific to the BBL

You can use several metrics to decode individual player performances during a BBL season and take your cricket betting online to the next level. Just as franchise team owners in T20 cricket lean heavily on statistical models and tools for a competitive edge in their recruitment, you can also use real-time player data to find players and teams most likely to perform for your BBL betting.

The key player performance metrics to consider before betting on the BBL with a bookmaker online are:

Batters

• Strike rate
  Keep your eyes peeled for teams featuring multiple players with strike rates well over 100. This means they average more than a run a ball in their respective innings. 

• Batting average
  Look for teams featuring players with high batting averages. In an ideal world, players averaging over 30 in the BBL would be a great place to start. 

• Number of 50s
  This is another good metric for determining the most in-form BBL batters in the season. Find those teams with players who can make multiple half-centuries. This suggests they can go on to make big, match-winning scores if they play themselves in.

Bowlers

• Strike rate
  If you’re looking for BBL teams with devastating bowling attacks, look for bowlers with very low strike rates. A strike rate of anything between 12 and 18 means they’re likely to get wickets with every two to three overs bowled. 

• Economy rate
  It’s not just about wicket-taking for bowling attacks, either. Look for bowlers with exceptional economy rates who can frustrate expansive batters. An economy rate in the 6-7 region is mightily impressive at BBL level. 

1. Most wickets
   Spot the most dangerous BBL bowlers instantly by filtering those with the most wickets to their name this season.

Know the Tournament Structure Perfectly

Understanding the intent or motivation for teams to win games in the BBL is another deciding factor in your Big Bash League betting. It’s important to have a handle on how the league format works.

Prior to 2019/20, the top four teams in the BBL qualified for the postseason semi-final stage, followed by the final. From 2019/20, a fifth team was introduced to the mix. The fifth-placed team now plays an “eliminator” against the fourth-placed team before the traditional semi-finals.

This tournament structure lasted until 2023/24 when it was tweaked once again. This time, the decision was to give the first and second-placed teams a second bite at the cherry. They now face off first, with the winner securing a direct passage to the BBL final, while the loser faces the winner of the game between the third and fourth-placed teams.

Therefore, if a team that’s already guaranteed first or second place comes up against a team in sixth that’s still in with a shout of finishing fifth, it may be worth avoiding backing the higher-ranked team with a sportsbook online.

Their motivation to win is likely to be far outstripped by the lower-ranked opposition fighting for a piece of the post-season action. The desire to win is an often overlooked emotional factor in sports betting.

Common Mistakes to Avoid in Big Bash Betting

What are some of the tell-tale errors that rookies make with Big Bash betting odds? We’ve put together a few typical mistakes to ensure you don’t waste time and money making them, too:

• One of the biggest flaws relates to an overreliance on pre-game favourites. When you look at betting odds, cricket enthusiasts will be naturally drawn to the short-priced favourites, but take the time to look deeper than the odds. Look at their recent form, fitness and motivation to win.
• Overlooking recent ream news or late player changes through injury is another rookie error. It can lead to you unwittingly backing teams to win that have a reduced probability of success – a negative expected value (-EV) move.
• Many novices to the Big Bash League will dive in and take the first odds available to them. Savvy punters will shop around for the most competitive odds, whether it’s pre-game or live cricket betting odds. This can positively impact your bottom line over the course of a season.

The Bottom Line

In summary, it’s all about being organised and thorough with your preparation for cricket betting Australia-based or in any other T20 league or competition. Hopefully, our Big Bash betting tips will give you a good grounding on what to look for in a value-betting opportunity.

Value is one of the age-old gambling tips. It’s still a numbers game, and you must try to put probability in your favour as much as possible.

We’ve got plenty more tips to that end, including pointers on winning more from your favourite casino games.

Now that you’re armed with BBL betting know-how visit your favourite online gambling site and place your bets on the next round of BBL games.