Melbourne (Australia): Cricket Australia on Monday announced that the best player in the Boxing day Test will be awarded the Mullagh Medal.
“The best player in the Boxing Day Test will be awarded the Mullagh Medal, named after the legendary Johnny Mullagh, captain of the 1868 cricket team who became the first Australian sporting team to tour internationally! #AUSvIND”, tweeted Cricket Australia.
Australian all rounder Dan Christian, who had led an indigenous team on a tour of England two years ago to mark the 150th anniversary of the event, along with women’s cricketer Ashleigh Gardner, feels the Mullagh Medal is a great way to acknowledge the ‘Aboriginal touring group’.
“I think it’s a fantastic way to acknowledge that (1868 Aboriginal touring group), but also off the back of our tour a couple of years ago on the 150th anniversary of their tour, that things are still progressing”, told Christian to cricket.com.au.
“So it wasn’t just a token tour, it’s great to see we’re still going on from there: we’ve got the Barefoot Circles (before some matches), we’re using the Walkabout Wickets symbol that was designed for that tour, and now we’ve got the Mullagh Medal on the biggest stage we’ve got in Australia, so it feels like we’re moving in a nice direction”‘ he added.
“It means we’re moving in the right direction for sure, and hopefully we see lots more Indigenous kids coming through, and we can have another Ash Gardner, and get another male into Test team as well”, he further added.
“From when I first started in State squads in the early 2000s, it’s been a slow progression but it’s nice that things are happening a little bit quicker nowadays, said Dan.
Johnny Mullagh was a leading Victorian cricketer who led the famous 1868 Aboriginal cricket tour of England. He was a skillful all-rounder, being a right arm bowler and right-handed batsman.
