Cricket in Australia

Cricket in Australia
MCG hosting 2015 Cricket World Cup Final between Australia and New Zealand
Country	Australia
Governing body	Cricket Australia
National team	Australia
First played	December 1803, Sydney, New South Wales
Registered players	1,311,184
National competitions
Matador BBQs One-Day Cup Sheffield Shield Women's National Cricket League
Club competitions
Big Bash League Women's Big Bash League
International competitions
Cricket World Cup ICC World Twenty20 ICC Champions Trophy Women's Cricket World Cup Under-19 Cricket World Cup
Audience records
Single match	Test (overall): 350,524 – Australia v England, 3rd Test 1936/37, Melbourne Cricket Ground Test (day): 91,092 – Australia v England, Day 1 (26 December), 4th test 2013/14, Melbourne Cricket Ground ODI: 93,013 – Australia v New Zealand, 29 March 2015, 2015 Cricket World Cup Final, Melbourne Cricket Ground

Test (overall): 350,524 – Australia v England, 3rd Test 1936/37, Melbourne Cricket Ground

Test (day): 91,092 – Australia v England, Day 1 (26 December), 4th test 2013/14, Melbourne Cricket Ground

Cricket is the most popular sport in Australia at international, domestic and local levels. Unlike most other popular sports, cricket generates equal interest in all regions of the nation, and is therefore often referred to as Australia's national sport. The peak administrative body for both professional and amateur cricket in Australia is Cricket Australia.

A record 1,311,184 people played cricket across Australia in 2015-16, an 8.5 per cent increase on 2014-15 – placing cricket at No.1 as the current top participation sport in Australia. Women participation also reached record figures in 2015-16, growing nine percent to 314,936 players. According to Cricket Australia's annual report of 2014-15, 1,208,360 Australians played formal, organised cricket during the year, an increase of nine percent over the previous year. Separately, official audience data shows that 93.6% of Australians watched at least some cricket on TV in 2010–11 calendar year.

Cricket has been played in Australia for over 210 years. The first recorded cricket match in Australia took place in Sydney in December 1803 and a report in the Sydney Gazette on 8 January 1804 suggested that cricket was already well established in the infant colony. Intercolonial cricket in Australia started with a visit by cricketers from Victoria to Tasmania in February 1851. The match was played in Launceston on 11–12 February with Tasmania winning by 3 wickets.

The first tour by an English team to Australia was in 1861–62, organised by the catering firm of Spiers and Pond as a private enterprise. A further tour followed in 1863–64, led by George Parr and was even more successful than the last.