2011 Cricket World Cup Betting

The Cricket World Cup is one of the most important sporting events in the world.

The tournament attracts immense interest on the Asian subcontinent, and is ranked amongst the 5 biggest sports events in the world in terms of global television audiences, broadcasting revenue and sponsorship deals.

Like the Football World Cup and the Rugby World Cup, the Cricket World Cup is held every 4 years.

The tournament is the only international cricket competition that brings together the major test playing nations as well as the smaller ICC affiliate teams.

Cricket World Cup Odds Comparison

Cricket World Cup History

The Cricket World Cup was first contested in 1975. Whilst the idea of an international tournament had been floating around for several decades, the logistical problems inherent in using test cricket for a tournament, prevented the creation of a World Cup tournament for the sport.

All this changed in 1971, with the accidental creation of One Day International Cricket. Fans enthusiastically embraced the shorter and faster format of cricket, and it took only 4 years for the ICC to introduce the first rendition of the Cricket World Cup.

During subsequent decades the tournament has evolved steadily, with amendments to game format and rules, team uniforms and match scheduling, all contributing to a more exciting and accessible game.

The tournament has also witnessed a steady improvement in the performances of the smaller cricket playing nations, with the likes of Ireland, Zimbabwe and Kenya scoring major upsets against established test playing nations.

2011 Cricket World Cup

Asia will host its second Cricket World Cup tournament in 2011. This time around, Bangladesh will have a slice of the action and will host the opening ceremony of the tournament as well as several group stage matches.

The challenging conditions on the subcontinent are expected to play a decisive role in the outcome of the tournament, as these conditions favour the traditional strengths of the Asian teams. Australia and New Zealand will stand in reserve as hosts for the tournament, in the event that political instability threatens the 2011 Cricket World Cup.

The format of the Cricket World Cup will undergo several changes in preparation for the 2011 tournament. The number of teams participating in the tournament will be trimmed from 16 to 14, and the ’super sixes’ round robin tournament that has traditionally followed the group stages, will be discarded. Participating teams will instead be divided into two groups, with the top four teams in each group progressing to the quarterfinals at the conclusion of the group stage.