Cricket Australia spoke in support of Ashleigh Gardner after the cricketer slammed the decision to schedule a game on 26 January.
Australia’s Ashleigh Gardner playing a match in India. Sportzpics for BCCI
Ashleigh Gardner, an indigenous Australian member of the Australian national women’s cricket team has condemned a decision to play a T20I against Pakistan on Australia’s national day. The holiday on 26 January commemorates the arrival in 1788 of the “first fleet” which brought first white settlers to Australia.
But some indigenous Australians commemorate the day as Invasion Day or Colonization Day because the arrivals set in motion the seizure of lands and the diminution of the indigenous Australian culture.
“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,” Gardner tweeted.
“For those who don’t have a good understanding of what that day means it was the beginning of genocide, massacres and dispossession.”
Cricket Australia said the scheduling of the match on 26 January will help it in continuing an “ongoing education journey” with the Indigenous community.
The Australian team will perform a smoking ceremony before the match and embark on a walk around mountain Kunanyi to learn about the local community as part of the decision to play on 26 January. The team will also wear a special Indigenous kit designed by two Indigenous women.
“Cricket Australia acknowledges 26 January is a day that has multiple meanings and evokes mixed feelings in communities across our richly diverse nation,” a CA statement read.
“We respectfully acknowledge it is a challenging day for many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and for some people the day is regarded as a day of mourning.
“Cricket Australia understands and acknowledges Ash’s position and appreciates her leadership and the contributions of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to the game of cricket.
“We will use the T20 International scheduled for 26 January as an opportunity to continue our ongoing education journey with First Nations people.”
With AP inputs
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