Sport in Australia the country. January February – March February – August March – September April April – August June – July September September – November October October – January October – March October – April November Sport in Australia Sport is an important part of Australian culture dating back to the early colonial period. Cricket, Australian rules football, rugby league, rugby union, soccer and horse racing are among the earliest organised sports in Australia . Sport has shaped the Australian national identity through events such as the Ashes, the Melbourne Cup and the America's Cup . There are a number of professional
Sport in Oceania governed by ICC East Asia-Pacific. Backyard cricket and Beach cricket, which are simplified variants of cricket played at home or on a sand beach, are also popular recreational sports in Australia. Trobriand cricket and Kilikiti are regional forms of cricket adapted to local cultures in the Trobriand Islands and Samoa respectively. Cricket is culturally a significant sport for summer in Oceania. The Boxing Day Test is very popular in Australia, conducted every year on 26 December at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne. Rugby league is the national sport of Papua New Guinea (the second-most populous country in Oceania after Australia)