Cricket Australia Responds To January 26 T20 Match Scheduling

Cricket Australia (CA) has said scheduling a Twenty20 match on January 26 presented an opportunity to continue an "ongoing education journey" following all-rounder and Muruwari woman Ashleigh Gardner raising concerns about the fixture.

In a statement posted to Gardner’s social media, she said January 26 was a day of hurt and a day of mourning” for Indigenous Australians.

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"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 posted on social media.

"For those who don't have a good understanding of what that day means it was the beginning of genocide, massacres and dispossession."

In response to Gardner’s statement, Cricket Australia said it acknowledged 26 January is a day that has multiple meanings and evokes mixed feelings in communities across our richly diverse nation”.

"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."

Gardner is just the second Indigenous female to play Test cricket for Australia.

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