Indigenous cricketer Ashleigh Gardner slams Cricket Australia for scheduling fixture on January 26

Australia’s Indigenous all-rounder Ashleigh Gardner slammed Cricket Australia for scheduling the 2nd T20I towards Pakistan on January 26.

New Delhi ,UPDATED: Jan 22, 2023 23:32 IST

Ashleigh Gardner slammed Cricket Australia for scheduling fixture on January 26. (Photo: Cricket Australia)

By India Today Web Desk: Australia all-rounder Ashleigh Gardner, who belongs to the Indigenous neighborhood, slammed Cricket Australia for scheduling the 2nd T20I towards Pakistan on January 26.

Gardner, who grew to become the second Indigenous girl to play Test cricket for Australia, stated that the day the primary fleet arrived in Australia in 1788 was a “day of hurt and a day of mourning” for the Indigenous neighborhood.

“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.”

However, Cricket Australia believes that scheduling the match on January 26 will present a chance to proceed an “ongoing education journey” with the Indigenous neighborhood. The Australian cricket board consults with an Indigenous advisory committee as a part of its Reconciliation Action Plan. The committee permitted the choice to go forward with the match on January 26.

The Australia girls’s group will carry out a smoking ceremony earlier than the match as a part of the choice to play on January 26. The group can even embark on a stroll round mountain Kunanyi to study the area people. The Australian facet will put on a particular Indigenous package designed by two Indigenous girls.

“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 assertion learn.

“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 place and appreciates her management and the contributions of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander folks to the sport 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.”

Published On:

Jan 22, 2023