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Some cricket fans may be wondering if micro bets are good for their favourite sport. With match-fixing said to be no longer as much of a threat to cricket as it once might have been, micro-betting is now popping up on the radar.
Throwing a match typically requires the coordination of several players and strong control over the flow of a game. Micro bets, on the other hand, focus on a much smaller part of a game and have therefore come under the microscope.
Most people are bound to be aware of placing a wager on the outcome of the game at an online sportsbook. If the chosen team wins, gamblers collect. However, it is possible to bet on much smaller, more specific events that take place during a match, which are resolved quickly and don’t necessarily have an influence on the game’s outcome.
For example, it may be possible to place a bet on whether the next ball bowled is a no-ball. As you can imagine, when narrowing the focus down to this level of detail, it is possible to offer micro bets on a wide variety of things.
Since micro bets are generally set up and concluded quickly, some see them as potentially dangerous as it is possible to place many over a short space of time. While this might be true when gambling irresponsibly if participants stick to responsible bankrolls, then a lid can be kept on spending, and the activity kept fun and light-hearted. Like all gambling, punters are encouraged to micro bet in a controlled manner with solid limits set in place.
In regard to cricket, some are worried that individual players may accept bribes in certain situations to produce outcomes favourable for particular micro bets. Lord Paul Condon, the ICC’s Anti-Corruption chief, has been reported as stating ‘There has been a phenomenal increase in the level of betting on cricket in both the legal and illegal markets over the last 12 months’, and that ‘The incidents covered by micro betting, including session betting, will often have little impact on the outcome of a match…
Against this backdrop, the risk of a player accepting substantial sums to under-perform during a particular phase of a match cannot be ignored.’
Following on, the ICC has established an education programme for all international officials and players. Lord Condon elaborates; ‘This education programme has been tailored to re-emphasise the threat of corruption and highlights the means by which potential corruptors will seek to influence players and match officials.’
So it seems that micro batting is something that officials are aware of and are taking steps to ensure it doesn’t adversely affect cricket matches. If they are successful, then it would seem that micro-betting is neither an overly good nor bad thing for cricket, provided matches are played fairly.
For punters, micro bets provide an additional way of creating excitement during a match, but like sports betting in general, should be viewed as a fun add-on conducted responsibly rather than a scheme for making money.