It is commonly referred to as Australia's unofficial "national sport". Unlike the winter football codes that are divided in popularity among different states of Australia, Cricket generates far greater public interest throughout all parts of Australia on an international, domestic and local level.
In 2010 Australia had 550 000 registered cricketers and the Australian men's team is ranked as Australia's favourite International sporting team. It is one of the most successful teams in international sport.
On a domestic level, each of the six Australian states has its own team that competes in three separate competitions over summer. Local club cricket is also popular, as well as social cricket that includes variations such as backyard and beach cricket. Indoor cricket also has a strong following in all states of Australia.
Also determined by participation, spectator and television viewer numbers - the most popular winter sport in Australia are the two Rugby football codes. Both games generate public interest on an international, domestic and local level.
There are just under 650 000 registered players of the Rugby codes Australia wide, 500 000 - Rugby League and 150 000 - Rugby (Union). As of 2011, the major Rugby (Union) competition - "Super 14" will increase to 3 international conferences made up of five local based teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa and will be known as "Super 15".
Soccer (Association Football) enjoys an extremely high junior participation in numbers across the country, however as players have grown in age they have tended to move to either Rugby League or Australian Rules depending on their location throughout Australia.
Other popular team based sports in Australia include Netball and Hockey. After suffering a significant loss of popularity in the 90s Basketball has also shown a recent increase in participation at a junior level.
Popular non-team based sports in Australia include Swimming, Golf, Tennis, Surfing and Horse Racing. Recently Australia's fastest growing sport has been Motorsport, in particular - V8 Supercars.
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