What's new
The Front Row Forums

Register a free account today to become a member of the world's largest Rugby League discussion forum! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Aboriginal Cricketers

deluded pom?

Coach
Messages
10,897
Both codes of rugby have been graced by players of Aboriginal descent who were some of the best to ever play the game, especially rugby league but you rarely seem to see Aboriginal players in the Australian cricket team. Why is that? It’s the same with Maori players in the New Zealand cricket team. Is this actually true or am I overlooking some players who have played for their country?
 

Twizzle

Administrator
Staff member
Messages
150,753
The first ever Aussie team to tour England was an Aboriginal Team.

Dizzy has indigenous heritage but there are not really that many. Ross Taylor, the former Kiwi captain is of Maori heritage.
 

Incorrect

Coach
Messages
11,828
https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/2017/12/20/ten-best-indigenous-cricketers-play-game

I remember seeing a doco sometime ago on NITV where they went into a bit about Eddie Gilbert... I'd never heard of him until then but wow.. the fastest bowler the don had ever faced... and got him for a duck.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Gilbert_(cricketer)
The first name that popped in my head when I saw the thread title was "Eddie Gilbert". When I was growing up, I had a book about crickets fast bowlers down through the ages. It was called "Fast and Furious". Basically had a 1 page bio on all the pacemen the game had seen, was an awesome read when I was a cricket nut in the early 90's. I seem to recall the story about Gilbert said he got called for chucking and eventually got ran out of the game and ended up homeless or in some sort of care or something...

Then there was another story about one of the quicks at around the turn of the 20th century, it might have been Spofforth, and the legend had it that by judging how far the bails once ended up from the stumps when he once bowled some bloke (the bails ended up down near the boundary rope), they calculated the speed that he would have had to be bowling would have made him something like 8 times quicker than Jeff Thompson or something ridiculous like that.... A fair bit of embellishment employed on that one.... Still a great book though....
 

Bazal

Post Whore
Messages
99,455
I reckon there's a lot of reasons, historically some are less than ok but that's our history in a lot of ways.

Eaier years, post the Indigenous tour of England and federation, cricket was a well-off man's game and a white man's game. I think that held on for longer than it should have tbh, or at least the perception, so that generationally a lot of kids the Era of Lillee and Border and all those still hadn't got into the game in a significant way. There were also other social pressure from that sort of time until not very long ago, especially to do with income and so on. So all that would have played a part.

I also think in recent times the cost has been prohibitive for a lot of families regardless of their cultural background. Cricket in general has shown a downturn at junior levels in most places tbh. Even if parents are happy to pay hundreds for fees, hundreds more for gear, and then the time spent as well, once these kids get to grade cricket they're paying thousands and many just drop the game or play socially. That goes for all kids, but obviously there are still social and cultural pressures on indigenous kids that other kids may not have.

That being said there are more indigenous players around than people might think. Alex Carey is indigenous and he's the ODI vice captain. SA and Strikers bat Jake Weatherald is indigenous. So is Dan Christian. Ash Gardner is a superstar in the women's game and she's indigenous. That's just off the top of my head obviously.
 
Messages
3,191
Short thread this one.

Cricket has a very poor record in this area. Like the AFL, it remains very white bread in Australia. The AFL of course has nothing else outside Australia.

The Gilbert and Fisher stories out of Cherbourg are very sad.
 

SpaceMonkey

Immortal
Messages
37,555
Former NZ keeper Adam Parore is Maori as well. But yeah it’s still a fairly white game. The only PI player I remember was fast bowler Murphy Su’a.
 

Pommy

Coach
Messages
14,657
Short thread this one.

Cricket has a very poor record in this area. Like the AFL, it remains very white bread in Australia. The AFL of course has nothing else outside Australia.

The Gilbert and Fisher stories out of Cherbourg are very sad.

Is it a poor record? Or is it just a cultural difference?
Cricket isn’t like other sports like league and union where determination, strength and bravery can carry you a long way.
Cricket requires a lot of education (in a cricket sense, not in any other way get down off your high horses) and that starts at an early age. If families and communities are not interested in cricket it’s going to be difficult for an individual to learn the subtleties that are going to make them a good cricketer.
Everyone I grew up with that was any good at cricket had it in their family, the rest of us played football and league. People don’t realise how much of a minority sport cricket is in England compared to here. I would hazard a guess that the participation figures are boosted by communities with their roots on the sub continent.
I could be totally wrong but that’s just my thoughts on the topic.
 
Last edited:

Willow

Assistant Moderator
Messages
108,132
Is it a poor record? Or is it just a cultural difference?
Cricket isn’t like other sports like league and union where determination, strength and bravery can carry you a long way.
Cricket requires a lot of education (in a cricket sense, not in any other way get down off your high horses) and that starts at an early age. If families and communities are not interested in cricket it’s going to be difficult for an individual to learn the subtleties that are going to make them a good cricketer.
Everyone I grew up with that was any good at cricket had it in their family, the rest of us played football and league. People don’t realise how much of a minority sport cricket is in England compared to here. I would hazard a guess that the participation figures are boosted by communities with their roots on the sub continent.
I could be totally wrong but that’s just my thoughts on the topic.
I think you are talking from an English perspective. From an Australian perspective, you are incorrect.

As already pointed out, the first Australian cricket team to tour England was Aboringinal. And their record against first class County sides was good.

But unfortunately, in the 19th century, they had zero rights and were not even allowed to venture outside of designated areas. These were excellent Australian cricketers with more experience than their white counterparts. But they were kicked down, and locked out.

IMO, Australian cricket lost a great opportunity.
 

Pommy

Coach
Messages
14,657
I think you are talking from an English perspective. From an Australian perspective, you are incorrect.

As already pointed out, the first Australian cricket team to tour England was Aboringinal. And their record against first class County sides was good.

But unfortunately, in the 19th century, they had zero rights and were not even allowed to venture outside of designated areas. These were excellent Australian cricketers with more experience than their white counterparts. But they were kicked down, and locked out.

IMO, Australian cricket lost a great opportunity.

I totally understand that but I’m talking about today, that’s not to say what went on in the past is in anyway right but it doesn’t help matters today.
 

Stavros

Bench
Messages
4,836
Short thread this one.

Cricket has a very poor record in this area. Like the AFL, it remains very white bread in Australia. The AFL of course has nothing else outside Australia.

The Gilbert and Fisher stories out of Cherbourg are very sad.
Oh my god.. did you really write that?
Please don't comment on any other sport but 2 state Rugby League.
Your hatred is breathtaking
 
Messages
3,191
Is it a poor record? Or is it just a cultural difference?
Cricket isn’t like other sports like league and union where determination, strength and bravery can carry you a long way.
Cricket requires a lot of education (in a cricket sense, not in any other way get down off your high horses) and that starts at an early age. If families and communities are not interested in cricket it’s going to be difficult for an individual to learn the subtleties that are going to make them a good cricketer.
Everyone I grew up with that was any good at cricket had it in their family, the rest of us played football and league. People don’t realise how much of a minority sport cricket is in England compared to here. I would hazard a guess that the participation figures are boosted by communities with their roots on the sub continent.
I could be totally wrong but that’s just my thoughts on the topic.
It’s a miserable record in fact.

You can’t go from having an All Aboriginal team in 1868 to a couple of players at best in the national team over the next 150+ years and claim it is anything but...
 
Messages
3,191
I think you are talking from an English perspective. From an Australian perspective, you are incorrect.

As already pointed out, the first Australian cricket team to tour England was Aboringinal. And their record against first class County sides was good.

But unfortunately, in the 19th century, they had zero rights and were not even allowed to venture outside of designated areas. These were excellent Australian cricketers with more experience than their white counterparts. But they were kicked down, and locked out.

IMO, Australian cricket lost a great opportunity.
This is very true.
 

Bazal

Post Whore
Messages
99,455
Is there some way we can keep the trolls who just want to start shit and follow posters around like a brain damaged dog in TFC where they belong?
 
Messages
2,839
Alot of people dont have 'whole days' to spend on playing sports/taking the kids to sports. Particularly in lower socioeconomic climates where one or often both parents work weekends or shift work midweek so barely see their families. True with my neighbourhood growing up in South Auckland anywau.
 

Willow

Assistant Moderator
Messages
108,132
I totally understand that but I’m talking about today, that’s not to say what went on in the past is in anyway right but it doesn’t help matters today.
It's important to recognise the past so we can improve on what we have today.
 

Pommy

Coach
Messages
14,657
It's important to recognise the past so we can improve on what we have today.

I don’t think anyone isn’t recognising it. My points about how people become good cricketers still stand though, they don’t just appear and cricket Australia can’t hold indigenous people at gun point and make them like the sport.
 

Willow

Assistant Moderator
Messages
108,132
I don’t think anyone isn’t recognising it. My points about how people become good cricketers still stand though, they don’t just appear and cricket Australia can’t hold indigenous people at gun point and make them like the sport.
My point is that there have been opportunities. I've heard all these excuses about how it is cultural or something to do with education. These are poor excuses at best.

Despite what the English may think, cricket is not a sport for gentleman. And it is not the domain of the educated elite.

When I was a kid, we played cricket in the street. We didn't have an academic background or rich parents. But I can tell that a lot of good cricketers came away from that, playing at Club level and beyond.

England kept their attitude for generations, only to find that the colonials could produce better cricketers, without all these so called class advantages.

The reasons why we have less indigenous cricketers goes much deeper than the class system.
 
Top