Increase in girls' participation in cricket in Australia

Cricket Australia (CA) has been the front-runner in promoting and developing women's cricket in their country. Be it through their equal salary for both male and female cricketers, the Women's Big Bash League or their extensive marketing and promotional campaigns like #WatchMe, CA has set the benchmark in supporting women's cricket. Now, all their efforts are bearing fruit as the 2017-2018 National Cricket Census, conducted by them on Thursday, September 6th shows.



According to the census, there was an increase in the participation of girls and women in cricket. 30% of those participating in cricket are females, also meaning they were six out of ten of them in the new-comers to the game.



The census showed that 1,588,821 Australians were actively involved in the game, playing either at schools or in clubs. The number was a 9% increase from last year.



CA can also boast of an increase in diversity in cricket in their country, with a rise of 4% in multicultural participation and an increase of 1% in indigenous communities. The number of recognised coaches has also gone up by 24%.



https://twitter.com/CAComms/status/1037464003633537024



All these results come soon after CA's announcement to invest $35 million, over three years to develop community cricket by bettering facilities and cricketing experience for all stakeholders.



Their results are also supported by the findings of an International Cricket Council survey, which showed increasing interest in women's cricket and in cricket among women.



“We are thrilled to see the number of Australians playing cricket continue to grow year-on-year. To have more than 1.5 million Australians participating in cricket last season is a fantastic result, highlighting the passion Australians have for cricket,” said CA’s Chief Executive Officer James Sutherland.



“We have more women and girls playing cricket than ever before. We are particularly pleased with 619 new junior girls’ teams creating opportunities for the next Meg Lanning or Ellyse Perry to learn the game.”