Sports fans in the US could be forgiven for passing over the sport of cricket, and dismissing it as ‘quintessentially British.’ However, this would be a mistake, especially given the global appeal of one of England’s most beloved exports. In fact, cricket has an ardent following on every continent, and this means there are billions of fans clamouring for information on the latest games and leagues across the globe. What’s more, gambling fans also find cricket to be a fun experience. In this post, we’ll touch on why cricket is so popular around the world, then discuss what makes it a good sport to add to your website. Then, we’ll introduce Cric Zumo properly, and run through its feature set! The International Appeal of Cricket For the uninitiated, cricket is bat-and-ball game originating in England. It’s played between two teams of 11 players, and has a rather more leisurely pace than even similar sports such as baseball. In fact, ‘Test matches’ can go on for up to five days! While there is still appeal for the longer formats of cricket, shorter – or ‘white ball’ – formats such as ‘One-Day Internationals’ (ODI) and Twenty20 (T20) cricket have expanded the global appeal of the game to non-traditional countries. For example, while historical strongholds of cricket have been in England, Australia, the West Indies, and south Asia, the ‘T20’ World Cup has seen participants such as the Netherlands, Hong Kong, and Kenya. While cricket may seem like a bad matchup for most sporting websites on the surface, it’s actually ideal for consistent and active engagement. Let’s discuss why that is. Why Cricket Is a Great Featured Sport for Bloggers and Betting Websites You only have to look at the wealth of sporting websites available to understand the appeal for visitors. In a nutshell, a fan of a sport will seek out news on it – the same goes for cricket’s one billion fans. As we mentioned, cricket can be played in a variety of formats, ranging from two-hour T20 games, right up to five-day Test matches. In addition, international teams normally compete in a series of games, which can see each series contested over a week at its shortest, or longer. Think of it like an NHL or NBA best of seven, but on a global scale. What’s more, given the minutiae of events that take place during an average game, cricket has multiple opportunities for betting. For example, you can potentially bet on whether a batsman will get out, the length of an ‘over’ – even a session between breaks – and all manner of other ‘micro events’. Think how lucrative a closely-contested five-day Test match could be, and multiply that by how many matches take place every week. When it comes to engagement, if you can capture visitors with your coverage, they could potentially check your site multiple times per day over a five- or six-week period. This is a lot of potential opportunities to earn income – and we know just the plugin to help you achieve it. How to Boost Your Cricket Coverage Using the Cric Zumo Plugin It’s understandable that you may not have a whole lot of knowledge about cricket. That’s perfectly fine, although it’s no reason to keep the sport’s happenings off of your website. The Cric Zumo plugin is the perfect companion: For the uninitiated, Cric Zumo is a fantasy betting provider focused solely on cricket. With their dedicated iOS and Android app, you can bet in-play on practically any match in the world. Even better, you can bring results and betting odds straight to your WordPress website with the dedicated Cric Zumo plugin. The free version provides complete match info – available for all international and top-level T20 and one-day matches – plus a real-time scoreboard updated minutes before the closer competitor. This is all displayed on your WordPress website through a ready-to-roll widget. However, updating to the premium version not only gives you odds on various events such as the match outcome, length of session, batting and bowling, and more – you get more regular updates during the game. Fortunately, getting started with Cric Zumo is simple. After installing and activating the plugin, simply add the widget to your desired location (through Appearance > Widgets), then tweak the settings within the dedicated Cric Zumo panel within WordPress: While the widget is almost ‘set-and-forget’ functionality, you can customize the display to your requirements through the Frontend Settings section. However, it looks great out of the box, and the developers even offer a recommended color scheme to get you up and running quickly. Conclusion No matter your niche, visitors are always welcome. For sports websites, those visitors stand to give you consistent loyalty in return for quality coverage of their chosen sport. Cricket is an exciting, global game with astronomical viewing figures. It therefore stands to reason that your site should get onboard. In this post, we’ve looked at just one way to do so – the Cric Zumo WordPress plugin. This lets you display live ODI and T20 matches to your site’s visitors. However, upgrading to the premium version also lets you whet your bettors appetite with live odds on situations such as session length and the fall of wickets. Betting and cricket are practically made for each other, and with Cric Zumo, you can provide an exciting platform for showcasing them! Cric Zumo for WordPress Enhance your sports coverage with Cric Zumo! Get the Plugin Are you excited by the prospects of using Cric Zumo? Give us your opinion in the comments section below! Image credits: jstarj, PDPics. About Will Morris Will Morris is a staff writer at WordCandy. When he's not writing about WordPress, he likes to gig his stand-up comedy routine on the local circuit. 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