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Odds and Evens

One of the key differences between the Indian and the Australian cricket scene is the fact that most Indians are great armchair critics or supporters as the case may be, but almost none are willing or able to put their money where their mouth is.

Betting is an integral part of the Aussie way of life, and any sporting event will see discussions among the common bloke as to where he/she is going to put the money. Admittedly, there is a significant male skew depending on the game you are betting on. It would be fair to say that most women bet on horses and events of that kind, which combine socialising with the sport.

In Sydney, as across most of Australia, the TAB is the most common venue for betting. The TAB has over 1400 outlets and covers 22 different sports on which the common man can put some money. One of the things that a bet does to spectators is the intensified interest in the result, which more often than not pays for the tickets that you may buy or the beers you may drink while watching the game.

To those like me, who have little idea of how this works, here is an attempt at clearing the mystery. Firstly, betting is legal in Australia and so nobody is breaking the law or engaged in rigging the game. You are offered odds on a number of combinations and it does make for interesting reading as we approach the first Test in Adelaide.

The rates are quoted per dollar that is invested. So if you see a return of $ 5.00 you know that for every dollar you bet, should you win, you will be paid $ 5.00 in return. The less the money on offer for a player/event to occur, the greater the bookies believe are the chance of that occurring. There is a minimum bet of $5.00 involved, with maximums fixed depending upon the support for a particular event. All you do, is walk into one of the outlets, check the odds and put your $5 bet on the event/player of your choice, you receive a card that records your bet and the rates at the time you placed. After the event, you can take your card back to the TAB outlet and collect your winnings on presentation of your card. As simple as that. There are no refunds, so once you put your money in its all or nothing.

A look at the options on offer for the cricket:

Result of the series: Not suprisingly, Australia is favourites at $1.65 per dollar bet. Not much point in betting on India winning the series, even though the offer is $5.00, and a drawn series will get you $3.20

Score for the team batting first tomorrow: Best odds are for scores between 200 and 350 -- $4.75 to $5.00. A first innings score of less than 150 will get you upwards of $12.00 as return. Easy to gauge what the bookies think is a par score, looking at those returns.

Most runs for Australia (1st Innings): Slater at $4.75 has the shortest odds or is favourite, followed by Mark Waugh, which is more based on probability than form one would have to say. Glenn McGrath would give you $251.00 if he ended up being the highest score.

Most runs for India (1st Innings): Tendulkar at $3.50 is followed by Ganguly at $4.60 and Dravid closely behind at $4.80.

Highest innings in the Test: Sachin has the shortest odds at $5.50 and is followed by Slater and Steve Waugh at $ 7.00 each.

The shortest innings in the Test: Which can be a golden duck ie. out first ball, has Srinath as the favourite at $ 5.00. It must do Srinath's batting confidence no good to see Venkatesh Prasad quoted at $ 13.00 ahead of him. McGrath is quoted at $5.50, as the most favoured Australian for shortest innings.

Series result: The most favoured series result is a 2-0 win for Australia at $3.75, but that could change if India comes out of the first test without a loss.

Series most runs: Sachin is favourite here too at $ 5.25 ahead of Michael Slater at $ 6.50.

Series most wickets: McGrath is favourite at $3.10 while the closest Indian bowler is Kumble at $8.00. My personal bet here is Srinath, who is offering odds of $12.00.

Highest innings in the series: Sachin and Slater are the favourites again here.

In sum, the bookies reckon a 2-0 result to Australia. With Glenn McGrath being the highest wicket-taker and Sachin the highest run scorer.

I would like to believe though, if Sachin or any Indian batsman is the highest scorer in the series, or the team gets in excess of 300 runs, the series could well be a lot closer than it seems at the moment.

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