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.
ICC East Asia-Pacific
The region is headed by the Regional Development Manager, Andrew Faichney, based in Australia at the offices of Cricket Australia. The region is supported by the Australian and New Zealand cricket team and these are the only official Test cricket members in the region. The five Test cricket countries in Asia (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka who are playing in South Asia) are members of the Asian Cricket Council.