‘Choose a better date’
Cummins’s bold call in Jan 26 debate
Test captain Pat Cummins says January 26 is the wrong date to celebrate Australia Day and has urged the federal government to adopt a “more appropriate date to celebrate”.
Cummins declared a view he’s held for “a while” on Tuesday – hours after Cricket Australia boss Nick Hockley was adamant the sport was not “boycotting Australia Day”.
There will be limited mention of the term “Australia Day” when the Aussies take on the West Indies in the second Test in Brisbane, a move that has sparked some backlash.
Indigenous Test players Scott Boland and Ash Gardner had reservations about playing on the date, with CA’s decision
taken on advice from its Indigenous advisory board NATSICAC in the lead-up to both the scheduling and the commemoration of January 26.
Cummins (pictured) said he was happy with CA’s position, but made his own thoughts clear. “This conversation comes up every year and Cricket Australia have been pretty consistent over the last four or five years,” Cummins said in Brisbane at a media conference for Cricket for Climate, which has installed solar panels at the National Cricket Centre.
“My personal opinion is I absolutely love Australia and think it is the best country in the world by a mile. I think we should have an Australia Day, but I think we can probably find a more appropriate date to celebrate. Knowing a couple of those players that you mentioned (Boland and Gardner), you hear the stories and their feelings.
“I think in particular with a sport like cricket, which has such diversity and millions of people following it and supporting and playing it, you get a good spectrum and a good feel of what the community kind of expects.”
Cummins, who has long been outspoken on issues such as climate change, said he had taken time to consider his position on Australia Day.
“I think we’re all in unison, we absolutely love Australia and feel really lucky and privileged to be here in this country, but it is a delicate one,” he said.
“It’s going to be a tough day for some but hearing that it’s going to be close to a sellout at the Gabba, it’s going to be really well supported. I think we’re all going to celebrate.
“It’s a tough day. It means different things to different people.
“Once you start realising Jan 26 and why it was chosen … Australia Day’s meant to be a celebration of everything Australian and our history. I think we can choose a better date.”
Hockley is adamant the governing body is not “boycotting Australia Day”, despite conceding a limited acknowledgment would take place during the Test at the Gabba. “We’re recognising that the public holiday is a fantastic day for everyone to come and enjoy cricket,” Hockley told 2GB in Sydney.
“We’re not boycotting Australia Day – we want to play cricket on Australia Day. “We’re just mindful that it means different things to different people.”