Commonwealth Games
Table:
Sport	Type	Years

Archery	Optional	1982 , 2010

Athletics	Core	1930-present

Para Athletics	Core	1994 , 2002-present

Badminton	Core	1966-present

Basketball	Optional	2006 , 2018

Basketball 3x3	Optional	2022

Boxing	Core	1930-present

Cricket	Optional	1998 , 2022

Cycling ( Mountain Bike )	Optional	2002-2006 , 2014-present

Cycling ( Para Track )	Optional	2014-present

Cycling ( Road )	Core	1938-present

Cycling ( Track )	Optional	1934-present

Diving	Optional	1930-present

Hockey	Core	1998-present

Gymnastics ( Artistic )	Core	1978 , 1990-present

Gymnastics ( Rhythmic )	Optional	1978 , 1990-1998 , 2006-present

Judo	Optional	1990 , 2002 , 2014

Lawn bowls	Core	1930-1962 , 1970-present

Taking into account the table and the article excerpts listed below.

State the answer to the question: How many times was basketball included in the Commonwealth Games taking place in Australia ? Return your answer as JSON: {"answer": "YOUR ANSWER"}. Do not introduce information beyond the provided sources.

Archery is one of the optional sports at the quadrennial Commonwealth Games competition . It has been a Commonwealth Games sport since 1982 , but has only featured twice in the competition 's history ; at the 1982 Commonwealth Games and at the 2010 Commonwealth Games . It is an optional sport and may or may not be included in the sporting programme of each edition of the Games . The host country of the games decides whether to include it .
Athletics is one of several sports contested at the quadrennial Commonwealth Games competition . It has been a Commonwealth Games sport since the inaugural edition of the event 's precursor , the 1930 British Empire Games . It is a core sport and must be included in the sporting programme of each edition of the Games .
Badminton debuted at the 1966 Commonwealth Games .
Basketball was first included in the Commonwealth Games in the 2006 games in Melbourne . Basketball will be a part of the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast , again in Australia .
Boxing is one of the sports at the quadrennial Commonwealth Games competition . It has been a Commonwealth Games sport since the inaugural edition of the event 's precursor , the 1930 British Empire Games . It is a core sport and must be included in the sporting programme of each edition of the Games .
Cricket was included in the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Malaysia . This was the only time cricket was played at a Commonwealth Games until a women 's tournament was included in the 2022 Commonwealth Games . Matches were played over 50 overs , and had List A status rather than full One Day Internationals . As is normal at the multisports events , the Caribbean islands that entered participated as separate nations , not as the combined West Indies team . Indeed , the Games were the first occasion on which an Antigua and Barbuda side competed at a senior level . Northern Ireland also entered , this occurrence being noteworthy because Irish cricket is usually represented by an all-island Irish cricket team . Sixteen teams entered the competition , including seven of the nine then Test-playing nations : West Indies did not enter as mentioned above , while England declined to send a team at all , on the grounds that the September date chosen clashed with other fixtures such as the end of the County Championship . The strength of the teams that were entered varied somewhat . Strong squads including seasoned Test and ODI players were fielded by the three nations that eventually won medals : Bronze medalists New Zealand with Stephen Fleming and Daniel Vettori , silver medalists Australia with Steve and Mark Waugh , Adam Gilchrist , Ricky Ponting , Damien Fleming and Darren Lehmann and gold medalists South Africa with Shaun Pollock , Jacques Kallis , Makhaya Ntini , Mark Boucher , and Herschelle Gibbs . India and Pakistan sent weakened teams as a result of a clash with the 1998 Sahara Cup , although India still named Sachin Tendulkar , Anil Kumble , Harbhajan Singh and VVS Laxman in its Commonwealth team while Pakistan included Shoaib Akhtar . Other notable cricketers who took part in the Commonwealth tournament included Sri Lanka 's Mahela Jayawardene , Zimbabwe 's Andy Flower and the West Indies ' Curtly Ambrose and Richie Richardson , playing for their home country of Antigua and Barbuda under the Commonwealth format .
Cycling is one of the sports at the quadrennial Commonwealth Games competition . It has been a Commonwealth Games sport since the second edition of the event 's precursor , the 1934 British Empire Games . It is an optional sport and may , or may not , be included in the sporting programme of each edition of the Games .
Diving is one of the sports at the quadrennial Commonwealth Games competition . It has been a Commonwealth Games sport since the inaugural edition of the event 's precursor , the 1930 British Empire Games . It is an optional sport and may or may not be included in the sporting programme of each edition of the Games .
Hockey ( known as field hockey in Canada ) is one of the sports at the quadrennial Commonwealth Games competition . It has been a Commonwealth Games sport since 1998 . Hockey is a core sport and must be included in the sporting program of each edition of the Games .
Gymnastics is one of the sports at the quadrennial Commonwealth Games competition . It has been a Commonwealth Games sport since 1978 . It is an optional sport and may , or may not , be included in the sporting programme of each edition of the Games .
Judo is one of the sports at the quadrennial Commonwealth Games competition . It has been a Commonwealth Games sport since the 1990 . It is an optional sport and may or may not be included in the sporting programme of each edition of the Games . It was included in 2014 Commonwealth Games .
Bowls is one of the sports at the quadrennial Commonwealth Games competition . It has been a Commonwealth Games sport since the inaugural edition of the event 's precursor , the 1930 British Empire Games . It is a core sport and must be included in the sporting programme of each edition of the Games ; however , it was not included in the programme of the 1966 Commonwealth Games in Kingston , Jamaica due to no sufficient bowling greens being available . Along with swimming , athletics , cycling , table tennis , cycling , powerlifting and triathlon , bowls is one of the EAD ( Elite Athletes with a Disability ) sports .