And nowhere is the popularity of cricket-in-June (or summer soccer) clearer than the battle to secure grounds against winter cousins like soccer and rugby league.

The Sydney Junior Winter Cricket Association added about 100 players this year, taking its total cohort to around 700. Administrator Andrew Percy welcomed the boom, but acknowledged it has made it difficult to find enough fields in parts of Sydney.

"The eastern suburbs and the Sutherland Shire are the toughest areas where you can't get grounds," he said. The problem was compounded by the scarcity of grounds in the east and the growing popularity of soccer in the south, he said.

This season saw booming interest in winter cricket on the north shore, Mr Percy said, but there were insufficient facilities to accommodate it. The furthest he has had to send a team this season was a 40-minute drive to Lalor Park, near Blacktown.

Applications for grounds usually begin in January or February and are confirmed with councils in March – but needs can change depending on the weather. Part of the solution would be better communication between cricket, soccer and rugby associations, Mr Percy suggested.

"There are definitely grounds each week that aren't being used that associations have booked out," he said.

Mike Woods coaches his son Alistair's under-10s team, the Leichhardt Wanderers, which made its winter debut this year. He said off-season cricket is a good opportunity for younger children to "play up" a division and get experience ahead of the summer.

The team had no trouble finding grounds this season, Mr Woods said. But he witnessed a "quite aggressive" clash in Lane Cove's Blackman Park when soccer teams had to reschedule matches following bad weather. "They looked at us and said 'you've got to be kidding – you're not playing cricket, it's not your season!'," he said.

In Leichhardt, bookings are also on the rise for six-a-side soccer matches in summer. Councils are looking at ways of redressing the pressure on grounds, including the installation of artificial turf. Arlington Reserve in Dulwich Hill and Lambert Park in Leichhardt have received the treatment, while in Woollahra, veteran councillor Andrew Petrie is pushing for fake grass to be installed on Oval 1 in Rose Bay.

He said the jury was out on whether the turf could be used for cricket, but in any case it would free up space at other ovals.

"People have woken up to it," Cr Petrie said. "The competition for our ovals is very strong. All you have to do is mark the artificial turf with the different boundaries for the respective games."

Junior winter cricket grand finals take place on Sunday.