Queens honour community with new Indigenous jersey
AFTER finishing bottom of the ladder in 2022, Queens Cricket Club has entered the new season with a holistic vision – and it’s already paying dividends on the field.
In what is believed to be a league first, Queens will don an Indigenous jersey for the entire season, including during the league’s first Indigenous Round.
The move was brought about after new club president Brett Amos felt the club needed a better way to connect with the community and its First Nations people.
“My stepchildren are Yugambeh people so I’ve had a bit to do with the Indigenous community over the past 18 years and I thought it was a good opportunity for them to be represented in the club,” Amos said.
“We’re absolutely rapt, all the members of the club love wearing it and we think it came out really well. It’s a long-term investment in the community.”
And the investment has already seen Queens go two from two, with a five-wicket win over Burleigh followed by a 122-run win over Coomera Hope Island.
The club will take on Southport Labrador at home on Saturday, who will be looking to get their second win of the season. Amos recently took over from club stalwart Greg Chaplin who served as president for over three decades.
“We have been extremely fortunate to have Chappo at the helm for such a long time and couldn’t be more grateful for the fantastic service he has provided this very proud club,” Amos said.
The jersey was designed by upand-coming artist Isabella Eurell, who is a traditional custodian of the Yugambeh language region and direct descendant from Wollumbin (Mount Warning) through Clara Wollumbin.
The Emmanuel High School student said she wanted to tell the club’s story of community through her artwork, which took weeks to fine tune.
“Since the cricket club is all about community and they wanted something to represent the area they are on, I made a design that represents people joining the club and the community,” Eurell said.
Eurell, 18, hopes to pursue art with Dreamtime Artistry in Coolangatta, an Indigenous owned and run business which supports local Aboriginal artists.
Eurell said she hoped other clubs would follow suit and commission Indigenous artists to help tell their club’s stories.
“It would be wonderful if they did that, it just pays respect to Indigenous people and the culture that was there before.”
Queens cricketer Nathan Boyd is a Wiradjuri man who has represented the Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cricket team.
“It does feel pretty special (to wear the Indigenous jersey every week),” Boyd said.
“I thought it was pretty cool that I get to represent my mob and the club at the same time.”