Cricket in Australia
Cricket has been played in Australia for over 210 years. The first recorded cricket match in Australia took place in Sydney in December 1803 and a report in the Sydney Gazette on 8 January 1804 suggested that cricket was already well established in the infant colony. Intercolonial cricket in Australia started with a visit by cricketers from Victoria to Tasmania in February 1851. The match was played in Launceston on 11–12 February with Tasmania winning by 3 wickets.
Cricket season
When designating cricket seasons, the convention is to use a single year for a northern hemisphere summer season, and a dashed pair of years to indicate a southern hemisphere summer. Hence, 1948 for the English summer season and 1948–49 for the Australian summer that followed some months later. In the tropics, cricket can be played all year round.
In the United Kingdom, the cricket season starts mid-April and ends in September, whereas in Australia, the cricket season begins in October and ends in February or March.