I joined the Cricstatz VIP service in early December and, after several months, I’m leaving at a net loss once the monthly fee is factored in.

At £40 a month, this is noticeably more expensive than comparable sports betting services, some of which charge £15-£30 per month and deliver far better returns with higher bet volumes. The price might be justifiable if performance was strong, but it isn’t. It feels like a figure that was plucked from thin air with no real thought given to what the market charges.

When I joined, the Cricstatz crew were proudly citing a 12% lifetime ROI. That figure has almost halved since, yet neither the tippers nor admin have addressed this with paying members. Performance is never discussed openly, which feels disrespectful to people handing over money every month.

The three tippers each have their own channels, there’s a podcast, and they contribute previews to external publications, but none of it is coordinated.

There’s no priority order or staking guidance to help members know where to focus, and the VIP service, the one people are actually paying for, seems to be the lowest priority of the lot.

The tip selection is questionable too. There’s a heavy emphasis on top match batter and bowler markets, which rarely win. Meanwhile, markets that actually perform (sixes, match runs, player wickets totals) are used far more sparingly.

On top of that, the VIP chat is regularly toxic. Some of the abuse directed at cricketers is genuinely appalling and appears to go completely unmoderated.

Perhaps most seriously, the ROI figures themselves can’t be trusted. Exchange bets where members are told to “place an order” frequently go unmatched, yet those tips are still recorded as wins and counted toward the headline numbers. The real performance is worse than what’s being advertised.

If you’re considering joining, I’d strongly suggest starting with the free tips the tippers post elsewhere. You’ll almost certainly get more value without spending a penny.