Cricket Australia has become the latest sporting code to support an Indigenous Voice to Parliament.
The organisation’s chair Mike Baird announced the news on behalf of its board on Monday.
Baird believes supporting the advisory body is a continuation of the games “powerful and unique history with First Nations people” and is part of the origination’s “continuing contribution to reconciliation.
Cricket Australia’s announcement joins other sporting organisations across the country including the AFL, NRL, Tennis Australia, Rugby Australia, Football Australia and the Australian Olympic Committee in supporting the proposed advisory body.
Cricket Australia consulted their Indigenous advisory council and Indigenous players such as Ashleigh Gardner and Scott Boland on the matter.
The organisation has previously come under fire for scheduling an international game on January 26 for the second straight year.
Muruwari woman Gardner, the second Indigenous woman to play Test cricket for Australia, raised concerns with the fixturing and said the day the first fleet arrived in Australia in 1788 was a “day of hurt and a day of mourning” for Indigenous Australians.
“Unfortunately this year the Australian women’s cricket team has been scheduled to play a game on the 26th of Jan which certainly doesn’t sit well with me as an individual but also all the people I’m representing,” she tweeted.
As part of the decision to play in Hobart on January 26, the Australian team will perform a smoking ceremony before the match and embark on a walk around local mountain kunanyi/Mt Wellington to learn about the local community.
NIRS/AAP
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons
