Cricket in 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 Australia XI
Cricket Australia XI is a domestic cricket team who play tour matches against international teams touring Australia. The team formerly played in Australia's JLT Cup limited-overs tournament consisting of talented young state-contracted players. Before each tournament, a 14-man squad was selected from players with state contracts, or Australian National Performance Squad players, who had not been picked in their respective states' 14-man List A squads for that season's tournament. The aim is to develop their skills against top players.