Cricket is beginning to draw a younger and wider demographic of fans, including more women, according to research by Sport+Markt.
The research agency reports that innovations including the Twenty20 format are behind the increasingly wide appeal of the sport, based on research conducted in India, the United Kingdom, South Africa and Australia.
The share of women who named cricket as one of their favourite sports on television increased 12 per cent in the UK, and 6 per cent in South Afrcia between 2008 and 2009. It grew by 1 per cent in India, although Australia bucked the trend with a 4-per-cent fall.
“During the same period cricket has also experienced an increase [in popularity] amongst the target audience of 16-29 year olds in countries such as Australia (+ 5%) and South Africa (+4%), whereas there was a marginal decrease of one percentage point in India and the United Kingdom,” said Ravi Chavan, of Sport+Markt.
"However, given the fact that there has been an overall increase in the total number of 16-29 year olds following cricket on TV has nevertheless increased in 2009 as compared to 2008.”