It’s no secret that cricket is extremely popular in Australia. It’s played all year round. Although a similar thing can be said for other sports as well, cricket puts an even stronger emphasis on skill and teamwork – the two characteristics that can either make a or break a team when things get competitive. At the same time, it happens to be quite a treat from the spectators’ perspective as well and the crowds are always cheerful when the game gets heated.
Cricket in a nutshell
In essence, cricket works very much like baseball, the concept of which is perhaps a bit more well-known. The competitors wear gloves and it’s for a good reason – the rules stipulate that the ball must not touch your hands! To add variety to the game, there are sub-variations of cricket that each introduce slightly different rules and formats. Test Cricket, for instance, is packed-full of intense situations and can last for 5 days. In comparison, 20-20 Cricket takes much less time and can be quite action packed as well.
Australia as a top cricket destination
Out of the 6 countries to have hosted a cricket world cup at some point, did you know that Australia was one of them? In addition, Australia introduced numerous big names to the game of cricket, including Shane Warne, Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting, Donald Brandman, and several others. Despite the fact that football and rugby have a stronger foothold in most western countries, Australians are absolutely crazy about cricket as indicated by how many betting action cricket gets on Sportsadda and other popular sports betting platforms.
Letting the statistics tell the story
To measure how much love for the game Australia can muster, reportedly, 38% of Australians would gladly bail out on a birthday or a wedding only to be able to tune in to the Boxing Day test. If that doesn’t tell a story of passion, nothing does. To put things in perspective even more, one in five Australian workers confessed to being willing to skip work for the sake of attending a game of cricket, with one in four admitting to have pulled a similar feat at some point already. One in five Australians surveyed also admitted to having watched cricket matches in secret during work at some point (source: Tvblackbox.com.au).
The same source also reveals further details that speak volumes about how passionate Australians are for the game. Apparently, a whopping 73% of New South Wales based cricket enthusiasts have proclaimed their love for the sport is as intense as demonstrated by their willingness to cancel a date or deprive themselves of sleep only for the sake of being able to tune in to a live game. In Victoria, 70% of those surveyed report the same. Whether that’s healthy or not, you be the judge. But one thing is for sure – cricket is serious business in Australia!
The viewership count is not too shabby either
Taking the viewership count into consideration is another important measurement to make when assessing the overall popularity of cricket in Australia. The Ashes Boxing Day Test viewership count was particularly impressive during the first session of the third day when an average of 406,000 viewers were tuning in to watch the game at the same time, which is record-breaking in and of itself. Across Foxtel and Kayo, the Sydney Test attracted 758,000 viewers during the final session of play.
Conclusion
As you can see from these numbers, Australians’ cricket craze can be borderline unhealthy at worst, and fiery and passionate at best, rivaled only by their love of gambling. Since cricket is being played all year round, the game remains a never-ending source of entertainment.