The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Aboriginal trailblazers to be honoured

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Friday, May 11, 2007
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Aboriginal trailblazers to be honoured

MELBOURNE : Cricket Australia will pay tribute on Friday to an indigenous cricket team that toured England in 1868, nine years before the first official Test match.

The team, of 14 aboriginal cricketers, arrived in England on May 13, 1868 after a voyage of three and a half months, playing 47 matches between May and October. Of those matches, it won 14, lost 14 and drew 19.

``The 1868 Aboriginal tour of England was a critical event in Australia's sporting and cricket history,'' Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland said Thursday.

``In recent years, the remarkable and courageous achievements of the 1868 team have become more widely acknowledged and celebrated, and we would like that history and recognition to be ongoing.''

The team was inaugurated into the Australian Sporting Hall of Fame in 2002 and its members have been assigned player numbers bringing them into line with the 397 players who have represented Australia in Tests.

The Aboriginal flag will be flown over cricket offices throughout Australia on Friday to mark the anniversary of the team's arrival in England. — AP

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