Cricket in Australia
In 2007, "The Age" reported that a survey by Sweeney Sports had found that 69% of the Australian public have an interest in cricket, second to none. Cricket is often known as Australia's national sport due to its equal popularity in all parts of the country. Cricket is also a mass participation sport in Australia: a census conducted on behalf of Cricket Australia found that in the 2003–04 season there were 471,329 participants in Australian cricket programmes and competitions, including 47,780 female participants.
In 2015–16, a record 1,300,000 Australians played formal, organised cricket during the year, an increase of nine percent over the previous year, making cricket Australia's biggest participant sport.
Australian domestic limited-overs cricket tournament
A limited-overs cricket tournament has been a feature of Australian cricket since the 1969–70 season, branded as the JLT One-Day Cup for the 2018–19 season. Initially a knockout cup, the competition now features a single round-robin followed by a finals series, with matches limited to 50 overs per side. The tournament is contested between teams representing the six states of Australia, who also compete in the first-class Sheffield Shield. Three other teams have also played in the tournament for short periods of time: New Zealand's national team competed in several early tournaments, a team representing Australian Capital Territory participated for a brief period in the late 1990s, and a select Cricket Australia XI took part as the seventh team for three seasons starting with 2015–16. The current champions are Victoria.