Test cricket betting is betting on a match of two innings a side, scheduled over five days, that can end in a win for either team, a draw or a tie. A Test that has not been won or tied when time runs out is a draw (clause 16.3.2 of the ICC's men's Test playing conditions, effective October 2026). So the main market has three results, and every hour lost to the weather makes the draw more likely.
Every market and example is a bet placed before the first ball, and every price is illustrative. Settlement clauses come from the NSW Bookmaker Declared Betting Events Betting Rules, which bind bookmakers authorised in NSW to take bets on sport; online bookmakers write their own terms, so check yours. Cricket betting compares Tests with the shorter formats.
Betting on the draw in a Test match
The draw is a result in its own right, so a bet on either team loses on a draw.
Example: a Test priced at $2.30 for Team A, $3.20 for the draw and $3.40 for Team B. Illustrative prices, not a real match.
| Result | Price | Implied chance (1 / price) | With the margin removed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Team A | $2.30 | 43.48% | 41.75% |
| Draw | $3.20 | 31.25% | 30.01% |
| Team B | $3.40 | 29.41% | 28.24% |
| Total | 104.14% | 100.00% |
The implied chances add up to 104.14%, and the 4.14% over 100 is the overround, the way the bookmaker's margin is built into the prices. Dividing each chance by 1.0414 takes it out, and on these numbers the draw holds about 30% of the market.
When a draw refunds a team bet
A draw no bet market refunds a team bet if the Test is drawn. A team bet plus a draw bet sized to hand back the whole outlay on a draw is the same position, so you can check any draw no bet price against the three-way prices:
draw no bet price = team price x (draw price - 1) / draw price = 2.30 x (3.20 - 1) / 3.20 = $1.58
A draw no bet price above $1.58 beats building the position yourself, and draw no bet explained works through the stakes and the margin-free price.
Risk: Betting involves risk. A draw no bet still loses the whole stake if the other side wins, and a better price than the one you can build is not a sign the bet will win. See responsible gambling for limits and support.
When the Test is tied rather than drawn
A Test is tied only when every innings is completed with the scores level (clause 16.3.1). The NSW rules then pay team bets at half their face value and make draw bets losers (clause 5.2.2.4(f)): $40 on Team B at $3.40 returns $40 x 3.40 / 2 = $68, and $40 on the draw returns nothing.
Test cricket markets you can back before the first ball
| Market | What decides it | The Test point to check |
|---|---|---|
| Match result | A win for either side, or a draw | Either team bet loses on a draw |
| First-innings runs | One side's first-innings total against a line | An innings that is never finished |
| First-innings lead | Which side leads once both first innings are done | A first innings that is never completed |
| Top batter | Most runs for one side or both | Whether it covers the first innings or the match |
| Top bowler | Most wickets in an innings or the match | Tie-breaks, and a bowler who never bowls |
Series markets, including a drawn series, have their own page in Ashes betting, and the wickets side of the card is in top bowler betting.
First-innings runs, worked
Example: Team A's first-innings runs set at 360.5, with $1.90 on the over and the under. Illustrative line and prices, not a real match.
A $50 bet on the over returns $50 x 1.90 = $95 if the innings reaches 361. Two endings change the bet:
- A declaration. A captain may declare at any time except in the final innings, and a declared innings counts as completed (clause 15.1). If Team A declares at 7/402, the over wins and returns $95.
- An innings that is never finished. Under the NSW rules a team's innings runs bet settles on the runs scored whether or not the innings is completed, and is void if no ball is bowled in it (clause 5.2.2.4(e)). If rain ends the Test with Team A on 3/250, the over loses $50 and the under returns $95.
A rule that voided an unfinished innings would refund the $50 instead.
Example: first-innings lead at $1.75 for Team A and $2.05 for Team B, with no tie price. Illustrative prices.
Once Team A's first innings ends on 402, all out or declared, the bet is decided the moment Team B passes 402 or its innings ends short of it. At 6/403, $30 on Team B returns $30 x 2.05 = $61.50. If rain stops Team B short, the terms decide between a void and the scores at that point, and a level first innings is a dead heat under a rule like NSW clause 5.1.8.
How the pitch, weather and toss move Test prices
Weather and lost time
A five-day Test has a minimum target of 90 overs on each of the first four days, and 75 overs plus at least 15 in the last hour on the fifth (clauses 12.7.1 and 12.7.6), about 450 overs in all. A day lost to rain removes 90 of them, a fifth of the match. Lost time can be partly won back, up to an hour on the day and up to 30 minutes on each later day (clause 12.7.3), but never a full day. Less time to take 20 wickets is why a wet forecast shortens the draw.
Example: a draw that firms from $3.20 to $2.50 in the days before the match, as the forecast turns wet, has moved from an implied 31.25% to 40.00%. Illustrative prices.
The pitch
A flat pitch that stays true for five days tends to bring big totals and more draws. Grass that helps seam bowling, or a dry surface that turns as it wears, makes 20 wickets quicker to take and lengthens the draw.
Team sheets and the toss
Each captain names 11 players and up to six substitute fielders before the toss (clause 1.2.1), which takes place 30 to 15 minutes before the scheduled start (clause 13.4). The toss winner chooses to bat or bowl. On a pitch expected to wear and turn, batting first usually leaves the opponent to bat last on the worst of it, while grass or cloud can make bowling first the choice. Prices react once the XI and that decision are known. Cricket betting strategy shows how to measure the toss and a ground's draw rate from its past results.
Follow-on and declarations: how they change the draw
Under clause 14.1.1 a side that bats first and leads by at least 200 runs may make its opponent bat again straight away. It is the captain's option, never automatic, and it saves the time the leading side's own second innings would take, time taken from the draw. The lead falls to 150 in a four-day Test, or in a five-day Test that loses all of day one (clause 14.3), as the follow-on entry sets out.
Declarations trade runs for time, and a captain may also forfeit any innings but the last before it starts (clause 15.2). Both count as completed innings, and a batter left not out at a declaration keeps every run for player and top batter markets.
Dead heats in Test top batter markets
A Test top batter market can cover one side or both, and the first innings or the whole match, so one batter can win one version and lose another. Under the NSW rules the batter with the most runs wins whether or not every batter faced a ball, and the cricket clause voids bets in one case: no run scored off the bat in that innings, match or series (clause 5.2.2.4(a) and (b)).
Where no tie price was offered, a tie is a dead heat: the face value is divided by the number of batters tied, then multiplied by the one place being decided (clause 5.1.8). With an illustrative price, $25 on a batter at $4.60 for top team batter in the first innings has a face value of $115. If another batter finishes level, it returns $115 / 2 = $57.50, a $32.50 profit instead of $90. Top batter betting covers void rules, retired hurt and prices by batting position.
Mistakes in Test betting and what they cost
| Mistake | What it costs in the examples | The fix |
|---|---|---|
| Treating a Test as two-way | $40 on Team A at $2.30 loses all $40 on a draw, which held about 30% of the fair market | Price all three results |
| Backing the first-innings over without the unfinished-innings rule | Rain at 3/250 turns $50 on the over at 360.5 into a $50 loss | Read the clause first, and skip the over when rain is forecast under a settle-on-runs rule |
| Reading a tied Test as a draw | $40 on the draw at $3.20 returns nothing under NSW clause 5.2.2.4(f) | Know the tie rule |
| Taking a draw no bet below the price you can build | $100 at $1.50 returns $150, against $158 from the position built at $1.58 | Work out the build price |
Risk: Betting involves risk. Avoiding these mistakes stops a settlement rule catching you out, but the bet itself can still lose. See responsible gambling for limits and support.
How rain treats Tests and limited-overs matches differently is covered in cricket rain rules.
Comparing Test prices across bookmakers
A draw priced at $3.20 by one bookmaker and $3.40 by another (illustrative prices) is the same bet at two prices once the tie rules match: $40 returns $128 at the first and $136 at the second.
In a Test the draw moves with each forecast, so compare the draw price across bookmakers before you bet. Where a Test is on the B337 Terminal's sports board, each bookmaker holds its own column on the head to head, line and total, and price history (flucs) shows how a price has moved. Across racing and sports the Terminal shows prices from 40+ bookmakers beside Betfair back and lay. Not every bookmaker prices every match, and prices are read on a repeating cycle, so confirm the price with your bookmaker before you bet. A free account opens a limited view of the Terminal with live odds. Betfair is a trade mark of its owner, and B337 is not affiliated with it.
Risk: Betting involves risk. A higher price changes what a bet pays, not whether it wins: a draw, a dead heat or rain can still cut or void a return, and there is no guarantee of profit. See responsible gambling for limits and support.