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.
Sydney Grade Cricket
Sydney Grade Cricket is a cricket competition played in Sydney, Australia. As of the 2016/17 season, Sydney Grade Cricket is now referred to as NSW Premier Cricket. The name change was part of a Cricket Australia initiative to standardise the naming of the elite men's cricket competition within each state's capital city. The competition began in 1893 when a number of clubs that had been playing for many years on an ad hoc basis voted to create a formal competition structure.