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.
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.