Cricket Australia said on Friday a turnout of 1,863,846 people ensured combined figures for international cricket and the men's and women's Big Bash Leagues were a record, edging the 1,727,270 set last year.

Broadcast ratings were healthy overall, with an average of 1.05 million tuning in for Tests, one-day internationals and Twenty20 internationals on Channel Nine.

At a time when CA is preparing to broker new broadcast deals for all of its offerings, the BBL enjoyed an average audience of more than 1 million on Channel Ten, winning 31 of 35 nights in the ratings. An average of 239,000 people also tuned in to the 12 WBBL matches shown on free to air.

The release of the figures also comes at a time when the ACA and CA remain at loggerheads over CA's plan to cut domestic cricketers from the set-percentage model embraced since 1997. CA's formal submission to the ACA for a new memorandum of understanding for men and, for the first time, women, has CA-contracted male (up to $16 million) and female players (up to $4 million) sharing in a percentage of revenue.

CA argues that it's no longer feasible for Shield cricketers to share in these spoils, although they will continue to be paid well.

While welcoming the release of the figures, ACA chief Alistair Nicholson reinforced the importance of first-class players.

"The figures clearly indicate the importance of all formats of the game in growing fan and viewer engagement and is really a testament to how the players at all levels contribute to this," he said.

"It also highlights that the domestic players, as much as the national players, contribute to cricket's success in this country. This a point we will continue to reinforce in the current MOU negotiations because we are wondering why CA would seek to break such a successful partnership model given it is clearly working so well."

CA says it's the international formats which generate the returns, while richer BBL and WBBL contracts are likely to be handed out as the Twenty20 tournament explodes.

Leading international women players will have the chance to earn more than $200,000 a year should CA's deal be rubber-stamped.

Negotiations for a new MOU have not resumed since CA made the surprise decision to release its formal submission late in a meeting with the ACA on March 20. The current MOU expires on June 30. If a deal is not in place by then, players will have to determine whether industrial action is required.

CA chief James Sutherland on Friday acknowledged the players' efforts in helping to generate the strong summer figures in a season where Steve Smith's Test side rallied from the depths of despair against South Africa to topple Pakistan and fall just short of a series victory in an engrossing tour of India.

"Thanks must go to the players who take part in all of our formats. The BBL and WBBL players, in particular, are helping to inspire the next generation through their ongoing fan engagement and brilliant action on the field," he said.