Cricket Australia releases its census for 2019-20 season   

Cricket Australia has revealed its census for the 2019-20 season on Wednesday (August 12) which showed an increase in registered participation in most formats for the first time in almost four years. It is the 19th annual audit of Australian cricket participation and has become an important measure for cricket, and assists in understanding and monitoring successes, areas to develop and trends for the long‐term enhancement of Australian cricket.

Among the key finding is a 3.8 per cent increase in registered participation (709,957) following three years of decline. Registered participation includes registered programs, club cricket, indoor cricket, organised school competitions and non-club cricket competitions.

In addition, there was a 10 per cent increase in the number of kids exposed to the game in the schoolyard, resulting in reaching more than one million school kids (10 per cent growth YoY). The combined total of kids in school programs and registered participation is 1.77M (7 per cent increase YoY).

While this is the longstanding method that most sports participation has been calculated, Australian cricket has shifted to focusing on registered participation; people choosing to play cricket in competitions and programs outside of school hours.

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Belinda Clark, Cricket Australia’s Executive General Manager of Community Cricket, said: “These results are a testament to the tireless work of our many volunteers around the country and the support States & Territories and CA is providing. We have experienced an overall increase in the number of teams playing as well as a strong interest in Woolworths Cricket Blast (WWCB) registrations. I am also thrilled with the continuing growth in female participation across WWCB, junior cricket and senior cricket.”

“This result was no doubt helped by a big summer of cricket with the women’s and men’s Ashes and the historic ICC Women’s T20 World Cup victory in March. We will soon launch our new female participation strategy to accelerate this momentum. Cricket clubs around the country, today more than ever, will become an important place for the community to connect, feel safe and accepted as well as grow the sport we all love,” added the former cricketer.

She also stated that their focus is to make participation more enjoyable. “Our focus is to continue to support associations, clubs and their local communities, make participation options more enjoyable and accessible and to make volunteering easier, particularly as we navigate our way through the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Cricket is more than a sport and has a huge role to play in the coming summer to help re-connect communities after a challenging period. We understand that there will still be plenty of challenges over the next few months, particularly for our regional clubs, volunteers and participants,” Clark said.

“We’re focused on supporting clubs and volunteers as best as we can, particularly starting the season in a safe manner, as well as providing fun, active, and social opportunities for the community to enjoy.”