Old way bowled out for a reset

It would be hard to script a sporting yarn quite like the one that took place on Boxing Day 2021. The diehards know. It all began the previous year with a freshly minted medal in honour of a great Australian cricket pioneer — Johnny Mullagh (Unaarrimin), a Jardwadjali Aboriginal man from western Victoria.

Then followed the selection of the fourth only Indigenous player in modern history to pull on the Baggy Green — Scott Boland, who debuted at the Boxing Day Test. He bowled out of his skin (6 for 7), subjugated the poor Pommy batsmen and won the prestigious Mullagh Medal. Come on.

Now, it has to be said that Boland was not the first person to receive the prestigious prize. That was scooped by Indian stand-in captain, Ajinkya Rahane in the 2020 Boxing Day Test. But Boland was the first Aussie, and more than that, the first Indigenous person to be awarded this new player-of-the-match medal.

Boland’s cultural journey is of interest here, too. Growing up, he wasn’t aware of his Indigenous roots. It was only in his mid-20s that the knowledge his grandfather, who was adopted, was a Gulidjan man from the Colac region in western Victoria came to light.

The discovery led Scott and his brother, fellow skilled cricketer Nick Boland, on a personal exploration of culture and identity, and to become proud role models for the Indigenous community.

Together they travelled as part of the 2018 Aboriginal XI tour of England, which marked the 150th anniversary of the first-ever Australian sporting team to travel overseas — a 13-man strong, all Aboriginal team in 1868. In the team was the talented all-rounder Johnny Mullagh, who was a star player during that tour.

Can you believe it? At a time when Aboriginal people were fighting for their country — their land and culture — they were sent to represent what is now all of ours — Australia. Even more remarkable is that it was nearly 100 years before they were even given the right to vote. Yet, these men were chosen as the best skilled players to play for this fledgling new colony, and at the most English of games, the gentleman’s game, at that — cricket.

Imagine how completely alien everything would’ve been. From the three-month boat trip across the sea, to walking around in an all-white society, and being treated as outcasts. Yet despite this, they had a record that most modern Australian cricket teams (who now fly first-class and are accommodated in impressive digs) would proudly take.

In the six months abroad, they played 47 matches, with 14 wins, 14 losses and 19 draws. Not bad for a group of “conquered natives”, as they were disparagingly labelled by The Times, who were far from a home that their kin and community were battling to save. The courage and pride, let alone the sporting prowess, should be in its own right the stuff of legend.

It has taken over 150 years for this cricket-obsessed country to fully honour and recognise just how much we owe to these cricket pioneers — they carved the nation’s name into sporting folklore. The Mullagh Medal is an important part of the necessary cultural shift and reconciliation movement that is taking place in Australia for the betterment of all.

So, when the teams walk on to the MCG this Boxing Day, I hope that, as we continue to see a renaissance of Aboriginal sporting lineage, Boland is on the field and he skittles the Proteas to bag his second consecutive medal. That would be a fitting reward for persistence and resilience of both Aboriginal culture and the truth of what it means to be Australian.

This article was first published in The West Australian in Renée Gardiner’s weekly column in Agenda, 24 December 2022.