Sydney, Aug 10: Football has overtaken cricket as the most popular team game among sport-obsessed Australians, according to research released today. Roy Morgan Research found 1,218,000 Australians aged over 14 played football in March 2003, while cricket attracted 1,067,000 players.

It is the first time that cricket has been knocked from the top spot in the homeland of cricketing legend Don Bradman and the current one-day World Cup holders.

Pollster Anthony Lawrence said the popularity of football, known locally as soccer, had been steadily building while the numbers of people playing cricket had slightly declined. "I don't think this is a flash in the pan, I think soccer's here to stay," Lawrence told a news agency.

For many years football was derided as a sport of interest only to Australia's diverse ethnic communities, with rugby league and Australian rules football the dominant codes.

But Lawrence said the game's profile had increased dramatically with the rise of Australian players such as Liverpool's Harry Kewell in Europe's top leagues.

Bureau Report