1. SPORTS PLAYED IN BRITAIN

2. England's national sport is cricket. Cricket is played on village greens and in towns/cities on Sundays from April to August.

3. Teams are made up of 11 players each. They play with a ball slightly smaller than a baseball and a bat shaped like a paddle.

4. Football is undoubtedly the most popular sport in England, and has been played for hundreds of years. In the English Football League there are 92 professional clubs.

5. Rugby originated from Rugby school in Warwickshire. It is similar to football, but played with an oval ball. Players can carry the ball and tackle each other. The best rugby teams compete in the Super League final each September.

6. The world's most famous tennis tournament is Wimbledon. It begins on the nearest Monday to June 22, at a time when English often have the finest weather. It is traditional for visitors to eat strawberries and cream whilst they watch the tennis.

7. Netball is the largest female team sport in England. The sport is played almost exclusively by women and girls, although male participation has increased in recent years.

8. Over 3 million people participate in basketball in the UK.

9. Scotland is traditionally regarded as the home of golf. There are over 400 golf courses in Scotland alone. The most important golf club in Scotland is in the seaside town of St. Andrews, near Dundee.

10. Horseracing, the sport of Kings is a very popular sport with meetings being held every day throughout the year. People can place bets on the races. Some of the best-known horse races are held at Ascot, Newmarket, Goodwood and Epsom.

11. Polo is brought to Britain from India in the 19 th century by army officers. It is the fastest ball sport in the world.

12. Table tennis was invented in England in 1880. It began with Cambridge University students using cigar boxes and champagne corks. Although the game originated in England, British players don't have much luck in international championships.

13. Badminton takes its name from the Duke of Beaufort’s country home, Badminton House, where the sport was first played in the 19th century.

14. University Boat Race. In the nineteenth century, students at Oxford and Cambridge, Britain's two oldest universities, were huge fans of rowing. In 1829, the two schools agreed to hold a race against each other for the first time on the Thames River. The Oxford boat won and a tradition was born. Today, the University Boat Race is held every spring in either late March or early April.

15. Angling (fishing) is one of the most popular sports in the UK, with an estimated 3.3 million people participating in the sport on a regular basis. Fishermen can be see sitting beside rivers and lakes.

16. Bowls. The two main forms of bowls are lawn flat green (outdoor and indoor) and crown green.

17. Boxing in its modern form is based on the rules established by the Marquess of Queensberry in 1865. In the UK boxing is both amateur and professional, and strict medical regulations are applied in both.