With football and racing taking up a large part of the UK sports calendar, it’s sometimes easy to forget about cricket. But with The Ashes kicking off last night, it reminded us that cricket is still very high up on the agenda for both bookmakers and punters alike.

England went against Australia in the First Test at the Optus Stadium in Perth, and by all means it is shaping up to be a high stakes game, pitting the home side and world’s first the Baggy Greens against the global number two.

Bazball’s buzz

England’s men’s Test cricket side has seen major success over the recent years with head coach Brendon McCullum leading the team to its current second place in the International Cricket Council’s men’s Test team leadership.

His impact since being appointed in May 2022 has been so significant that the current playstyle of the Three Lions is called ‘Bazball’, a term first coined by ESPN journalist Andrew Miller that is derived from McCullum’s nickname ‘Baz’.

The McCullum era has managed to generate immense hype among British cricket fans, and rest assured – UK bookmakers are ready to meet the demand, Michael Shinners, Head of Sports PR at Sky Betting & Gaming, confirmed for SBC News.

“The Ashes is the biggest betting event in the cricket calendar,” he said. “Bazball has created a real buzz and will certainly make it a great watch.”

Even with the awkward coverage hour at 02:00 am UK local time, Shinners said that he expects interest to remain at “extremely strong” levels throughout the five-day action.

His views were echoed by a spokesperson at Paddy Power, who added: “When it’s on in England, it’s really big, on the scale of golf majors like The Masters. With it being overnight in Australia, there’s slightly less activity, with people placing their bets and waking up to check in the morning. 

“It’s still a large event for us. It ranks in the top six sports we have, behind football, racing etc. It has a similar appeal to tennis from a betting perspective.”

Strong appeal throughout history

Much of the interest in the event stems from the decades of intense rivalry between Australia and England, which routinely captivates sports fans in both nations. For UK betting trading, Sinners reflected that a good England performance is always a positive. 

“So many iconic moments have come from this great sporting event, and I expect more or the same this time around.

“If England were to win the first test, interest would massively grow. The second test from Brisbane is a day/night game with the second session starting around 7am BST. If England is doing well, and it’s a big if, the interest will be huge.”

Abundance of betting markets

Bookmakers like Sky Betting have always boasted a loaded catalogue of betting markets for some of the biggest events in the sporting calendar. The Ashes is no exception. 

Punters can look forward to betting on the winning team, top batsman, top bowler, player total runs/wickets, and placing in-play bets, among others.

Shinners added that Australia are favourites at 4/7, but England at 2/1 is the shortest price they’ve been at for an away series in Australia over recent years.

Paddy Power further expanded on the odds by adding that England will be relying on Ben Stokes to carry them through, with the team captain being at 11/1 for Player of the Series.