A record 880,291 participants picked up a bat and ball in 2011-12, making cricket the number one participation sport in Australia.
The latest national cricket census across the Tasman has revealed the huge jump in the number of women and girls playing cricket that has propelled the sport to record participation figures.
Female participation is up 26.93% to 150,178 and women and girls now account for 17.1% of Australia's 880,291 participants - which is a 3.54% increase on the previous year.
