Hosts England are the favourites to win the 12th edition of the Cricket World Cup kicking off at the end of May.
Home advantage plays a pivotal role and is one of the main reasons why Eoin Morgan’s side are right up there in the betting despite the fact that England have never actually won the World Cup.
Three times the three lions have reached the final and three times they have lost but despite this, England are still classed as one of one-day cricket’s super powers and it is hard to argue against that.
However, the top teams aside, there is plenty of value to be had further down the field with sites such as novibet.co.uk offering some superb cricket markets as we take a look at a couple of sides who have the potential to cause an upset.
West Indies
The West Indies may be two-time Cricket World Cup winners, but the second of those victories came all the way back in 1979 (ironically in the second tournament ever hosted).
However, long gone are the days of Michael Holding, Viv Richards and Collis King and the West Indies have been on a downward spiral for a number of years now.
Few fancy the Windies to claim a third World Cup in England this summer but if they did it would be less of a shock than many would expect.
As recently as February this year, the Windies tied with favourites England 2-2 in a five match ODI Series in the Caribbean with Chris Gayle showing his worth to the West Indian cause.
Chris Gayle proved both a star and hinderance as his brilliance led to some big scores, but his selfishness in not running for singles and doubles could prove to be a problem when the tournament roles around.
Gayle is undoubtedly the linchpin for the West Indies and the 2019 ODI World Cup will be his last before retirement.
Much rests on the 39-year-olds shoulders and if he decides to run for the smaller scores, then the Windies will prove to be a formidable force once again.
Bangladesh
There are two sides in world cricket that are on the rise, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.
Both sides will be in England for the Cricket World Cup, but Bangladesh come in ahead of Afghanistan as a potential outside winner because they are much more established and further down the cricketing road than their rivals.
In 2000, the Bangladesh Cricket Board were granted test status which was a huge step in the right direction for cricket in the country across all the formats and in 2015, the ODI side reached the quarter-finals of the World Cup.
Along the way, they recorded a famous victory over England which led to the English being dumped out of the tournament.
The likes of Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim, and MashrafeMortazahave the ability to mix it with the world’s best on their day making Bangladesh a dangerous proposition for anyone and a side not to be underestimated.
The 2019 World Cup is gearing up to be one of the most competitive of all time with the potential for a shock very real indeed.