The Novice Guy – The 2011 Cricket World Cup

The Cricket World Cup is the signature event in a sport that is one of the biggest in the world that is virtually unknown outside the United States. That it is unknown in the U.S. would seem kind of ironic, in that the first international match was held between the United States and Canada back in 1844. Sanctioned by the International Cricket Council, the World Cup is one of the world's most watched sporting events, attracting 2.2 billion viewers across over 200 countries. The event commands $1.1 billion for television rights and over $500 million in sponsorship fees.

Here is the way the field looks right now at BetUS Sportsbook:

BetUS Future Cricket Odds

To Win 2011 World Cup

Australia +250

India +400

Sri Lanka +550

South Africa +700

Pakistan +600

New Zealand +1000

England +800

West Indies +1200

Bangladesh +4000

Zimbabwe +30000

The World Cup has been contested since 1975 and takes place every four years. The ten Test-playing countries, as well as those who play ODI (one-Day International) cricket qualify for the tourney, along with a number of other countries who must go through a process of regional qualifying tournaments. The 2011 World Cup will have 14 teams ultimately qualifying, with groups of seven teams who will play each other in a round-robin format. The top four teams from each group will advance to the quarter-finals, at which point the tournament adopts a single-elimination format.

Australia is the +250 favorite at BetUS to win the 2011 World Cup, and that is no surprise at all, since that country has won the last three World Cup competitions. India, at +400 in the BetUS odds, is surely a viable contender as well, and they have demonstrated in the past that they can come from the back of the pack and get the job done; in fact, India was a 66/1 longshot, according to British bookmakers, to win the 1983 competition and wound up at the top of the heap.

India has always been cricket-crazy, but there has been tremendous growth and development of the game on the professional level just recently. An entrepreneur named Lalit Modi, who assumed control of the country's Board of Control of Cricket, formed the India Premier League and snared at least $1 billion in television rights. Setanta, an international premium sports channel, paid $295 million alone for five years of rights. Investors in Mumbai, the city which will host the finals of the 2011 World Cup, bid $111.9 million for one of the league franchises; all told, there was over $730 million put across the table to buy the teams that comprise the IPL.

Aside from India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan will also host World Cup matches. Sri Lanka is thus far the only country to have hosted or co-hosted the tournament to have won the World Cup, doing so in 1996.

Bettors from the U.S. will enjoy this game and notice some similarities with baseball. In point of fact, it is likely that there is much cricket influence in the national pastime, along with the English game of "rounders" since British immigrants played a role in the invention of baseball.