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.
Culture of Australia
Many Australians are passionate about sport, and it forms a major part of the country's culture in terms of spectating and participation. Cricket is popular in the summer, and football codes are popular in the winter. It is generally agreed that cricket enjoys the most popularity in all parts of the country. Australian traditions such as grand finals and footy tipping are shared amongst the codes.