Australian cricketer Ash Gardner is honoured to captain the Governor-General’s XI, however it’s what her elevation to the function can do to encourage Indigenous sportspeople that almost all excites her.
The proud Muruwari nation girl would be the first Indigenous captain of the Governor-General’s XI when she leads the crew towards Pakistan in a 50-over conflict at Allan Border Field in Brisbane on Friday.
Gardner, Faith Thomas and Hannah Darlington are the three Indigenous gamers to symbolize the Australian ladies’s cricket crew in any format.
Jason Gillespie, Scott Boland, Dan Christian and D’Arcy Short are the 4 Indigenous males to do the identical for the reason that trailblazing Aboriginal facet toured England in 1868.
“As sportspeople, you probably need to put your career and what you are doing in sport into the bigger picture,” Gardner instructed AAP.
“For me it is being able to inspire the next generation of young Indigenous sportspeople, whether it is cricket or not.
“There has been such a low variety of Indigenous cricketers which have performed on the highest degree. Hopefully individuals like myself, Dan Christian and D’Arcy Short can attempt to change these traits and make cricket look engaging for individuals who perhaps as soon as thought it wasn’t for them.
“There is more to sport than sport, and it is actually trying to change the next generation that hopefully follow in your footsteps.”
The late, nice rugby league participant Arthur Beetson grew to become the primary Indigenous Australian to captain his nation in any sport, lighting a path for a lot of others to observe their desires.
Gardner’s elevation to the captaincy, a task she could effectively play for the Australian crew in future, can have an analogous influence.
“The line that ‘you can’t be what you can’t see’ is quite true in cricket at the moment with the number of Indigenous players that do play at the highest level,” she stated.
“It is traditionally quite a white sport, so it is probably not overly attractive for Indigenous communities.
“It is actually going to be a problem for CA (Cricket Australia) to continue to grow it in these areas, however the best way we’re going about it … hopefully reaching out to extra communities can encourage individuals to attempt cricket and fall in love with it.”
The 25-year-old, who captained the national Indigenous women’s team on a tour of India when she was 18, said she had worked on her leadership over the past year and a half during a period in which she was the 2022 Belinda Clark Award winner as the best female cricketer in Australia.
As captain on Friday, the allrounder will be true to herself as a person and cricketer.
“In the previous when I’ve captained I’m somebody who goes with their intestine so much, and that in all probability feeds into how I play my cricket, being fairly fearless and attempting to take the sport on in all areas,” Gardner stated.
“I have got plenty of young and up-and-coming players that I can lead, which is really exciting. I’ll be able to tap into them and chat to them about their games and where they can see themselves going in the next period.”
