If you are looking for some top quality, and exciting cricket betting, then you can head down under for the Twenty20 Big Bash League. This is the inaugural season of the tournament in Australia, which takes over from the previous incarnation of the KFC Twenty20 Big Bash. What do we have here, well there are eight teams gunning for victory, and there will be a total of 31 matches throughout the duration of the league. It is all pretty straight forward thankfully, there is an initial group stage in which all eight teams are lumped together and the top four go through to the semi finals. There are no defending champions as such here, because the tournament is under its new guise, and previously the teams were regional, and it was South Australia, who saw off New South Wales in last year’s final. So there has been some reformatting and now we have cool, mostly weather related, team names like the Brisbane Heat to enjoy. Naturally, with the flair of the Australians, there will be a lot of excitement and a lot of big hitting, and there are many familiar names who will be taking part.
The field is incredibly talented, and while some teams will be weakened because of international Test Cricket happening at the same time, there are still stars galore in this exciting tournament. Yes, the glitz and glamour of the IPL may have overshadowed this a bit, but what is better than settling down on a cold winter’s night and watching a big of Australian Cricket? Expect some big hitting and a real eight way battle. You can look over the teams and really can’t pick out a stand out team which is going to walk away with the title. That leaves us with some very interesting cricket betting options to look at.
Let’s take a look at the Twenty20 Big Bash League cricket betting, going team by team.
Melbourne Renegades: 11/2 at Ladbrokes
Outright favourites, and that is because they have their entire squad together, meaning that they don’t have players missing on international duty. A very strong looking side as well, with Shahid Afridi, Brad Hodge, while they will be hoping that Shaun Tait rediscovers some of that old magic to lead the bowling attack, along with Abdul Razzaq. Trading as favourites, but we think that there are betting and stronger options out there for your Big Bash League Cricket betting.
Melbourne Stars: 11/2 at Bet365
We’ll start with the other Melbourne team who are probably going to be a bigger threat in the tournament than the Renegades. You simply can’t ignore the Stars because of the legend that is Shane Warne who is playing for them. The spin bowling genius will draw a lot of attention, but they have a strong squad through and through even if he is having an off day. There are some fantastic Twenty20 specialists in here, with David Hussey and Cameron White in the side. England’s Luke Wright and Jade Dernbach are in the Melbourne Stars squad as well.
Brisbane Heat: 6/1 at SportingBet
The Heat have veteran Matthew Hayden in the line up for them, so it will be interesting to see what kind of shape he is in here. The Kiwi duo of Daniel Vettori and Brendan McCullum can’t be ignored, and you can throw the threats from Nathan Hauritz and Peter Forrest in there as well. There is a good balance to the team and will probably give the main title contenders a good run for their money. Would expect them to be in the top four for the semi final stage at least for your Big Bash Cricket betting.
Adelaide Strikers: 6/1 at Boylesports
Being tipped by quite a lot of people, simply because they are largely built on the South Australia side which won the tournament last year. However, they don’t look as if they have the bowling attack to really threaten often enough, not against the big guns in the league. They are not as strong of a side as the triumphant South Australia side from last year. They could go close if their bowling attack shows up with something special, because they have a superb crop of specialist batsmen in their side.
Sydney Thunder: 7/1 at SportingBet
Well, a lot of pressure will be on the shoulders of Windies opener Chris Gayle here, along with fellow countryman Fidel Edwards. On paper, they probably are not quite strong enough all round to get into the top four in the league. Probably going to get hurt a lot with the top order not performing.
Perth Scorchers: 8/1 at Blue Square
Wouldn’t write off the Scorchers at all, even though they are drifting a little in the betting odds here. England’s Paul Collingwood goes for the Scorchers, and no doubt his experience will have a vital role to play. They can call on a huge amount of experience with Simon Katich, Herschelle Gibbs and Michael Hussey in the line up. A pretty good looking squad, one that is banking on the experienced players to pull through the youngsters in the squad. Stand a pretty good outside chance actually and are pretty good value in your Big Bash Cricket betting as well. Well worth an outside shot.
Hobart Hurricanes: 9/1 at Bet365
Just because these trailers in the betting odds here are at the bottom of the list, seriously don’t write them off. The Big Bash League should be a pretty evenly contested thing, and Hobart is proof of that. Will be hurt with the departure of Ricky Ponting to Australia’s Test Side for the series against India, but have huge batting power in Mark Cosgrove and Travis Birt. There is a decent mix in here which can field a very testing team, and will throw down a good challenge.
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