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 in Saudi Arabia
Cricket was first referenced in Saudi Arabia in 1960 and was contested by Parish teams. By the 1970s the game became structured and more organised, with associations formed. The game was mostly played by expatriates in its early days and this remains the case today, with the majority of players coming from the Indian subcontinent, England, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand.