Australian women’s cricket star Ashleigh Gardner has slammed Cricket Australia’s decision to schedule a match against Pakistan on Australia Day.
Fresh off a 3-0 ODI series win, Gardner and teammates again face Pakistan in a three-match T20I series, with game 2 to be held in Tasmania on the evening of January 26.
The 25-year old, who hails from the Muruwari people of New South Wales, took to social media to express her disappointment with the fixturing decision, describing Australia Day as ‘a day of hurt and a day of mourning’ for Indigenous Australians.
“As a proud Muruwari woman and reflecting on what Jan 26 means to me and my people it is a day of hurt and a day of mourning,” Gardner wrote in a post on Instagram and Twitter.
“My culture is something I hold close to my heart and something I’m always so proud to speak about whenever asked.
“I also am fortunate enough to play cricket for a living which is something I dreamt of as a kid. 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.
“As a national team we have a platform to raise awareness about certain issues and I’m using this platform to hopefully educate others on a journey to learn about the longest living culture in the world. For those who don’t have a good understanding of what that day means it was the beginning of genocide, massacres and dispossession.”
While Gardner confirmed she will play, she committed to spending the day ‘reflecting and thinking about all of my ancestors and people’s lives who changes from this day’.
Cricket Australia have opted to not schedule a Big Bash League match on the day, and will not refer to the date as Australia Day in any promotional material for the women’s match.
All-rounder Gardner became the second Indigenous female to represent Australia when she made her international debut in early 2017..
She has since played five Tests, 52 ODIs and 65 T20Is, quickly becoming a key member of the all-conquering team.
She was prominent in Australia’s Women’s ODI World Cup win in early 2022, taking 10 wickets for the tournament, while she was also part of the T20 World Cup winning team in March 2020.
Gardner took five wickets at just 12 in the three-match ODI series against Pakistan, including 3/30 in game 3. She made 66 not out in her most recent T20I, against India in December.
She also heads up the Ashleigh Gardner Foundation, formed in 2020, which aims to provide education to Indigenous children in regional NSW.
shifty
Roar Rookie
So how does her individual belief outweigh the elders that were consulted and had no issues with the game being played? If Indigenous folk can't agree on a date for a game of cricket, how can we really expect the voice to encompass all views on more important matters?
Dwanye
Roar Rookie
Oh. So not ‘always’ like you said.
Naughty's Headband
Roar Rookie
No, we celebrate the day the first immigrants came and enriched our nation. Diversity is strength, is it not.
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
We are a Federated Democracy acting under a Constitutional Monarchy. Federation is the mechanism that joined the 6 colonies to become 6 states that formed the FEDERATED ENTITY KNOWN AS AUSTRALIA You can tell that because we've had an Australian city as our seat of government. 1901-1927 Melbourne and Canberra since. What did you learn at school?
matth
Roar Guru
Sheek, that was a treat to read. thanks.
matth
Roar Guru
Generational change will have a huge effect. As of this census Millenials are now the largest age demographic in the country. They will decide and it will be their right to do so and no oldies like Brett or me can or should change that.
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
Easter floats about as it's the first FM after the Equinox.
matth
Roar Guru
They were probably still hungover after New Year's Eve :silly:
matth
Roar Guru
It doesn't dismiss their history, but it certainly dismisses their strong views as being unpimportant.
matth
Roar Guru
Our indigenous people are pretty united that they do no like using this date as our national date, for pretty decent reasons, it was for them effectively the start of a war for their land that they lost to the British. So why not change the date so it can be a celebration that unifies the country rather than divides it?
Gray-Hand
Roar Rookie
This country was stuffed from day one!
jameswm
Roar Guru
No I don't either, but I also don't understand people not recognising we are picking a day tat signifies when the Europeans arrived (even putting aside what they did after they arrived), and ignoring a day that either has significance to first Australians or doesn't offend a lot of them (for good reason). It's so obvious, how can you argue against it? "It's been our National Day for 30, or 50, or 100 days" isn't a valid counter-argument. We should be more advanced in our thinking now.
Dave
Guest
Mate we get it “ItS NoT eVEn oUr BirThDAy” for someone who reckons they don’t care either way you sure as anything commented multiple times on the exact same niche argument I don’t care if historically it was NSW colony day :laughing: literally has zero impact on it being celebrated currently as Aus day
matth
Roar Guru
You are right Hmmm!! India and Pakistan should stop playing cricket since they fought the British for Independence. Same goes for South Africa and the Caribbean....
matth
Roar Guru
Which is her right.
matth
Roar Guru
I'm not sure how relevant this is one way or another?
matth
Roar Guru
You know that is a seriously offensive term, right?
matth
Roar Guru
It's not a pile on, it's just repeated posts from a relatively small group. this is actually progress. 10 years ago the amount of negative posters would have been twice as many.
Brett Allen
Roar Rookie
We celebrated our bicentennial on that date
matth
Roar Guru
She has agreed to play but used her platform to make her position on the use of the date as our national holiday clear. It's a very mature considered approach.