‘Find a more appropriate date to celebrate’: Cummins wants Australia Day switch

Test captain Pat Cummins believes the date for Australia Day should be changed in his most emphatic statements about the national holiday.

Cummins, who will captain Australia for the first time in a match that falls on January 26, said: “I absolutely love Australia … but I think we can probably find a more appropriate date to celebrate it.”

Cricket Australia does not refer to January 26 as Australia Day, which this year falls on Friday on the second day of the Test against the West Indies at the Gabba.

When asked about the date in Brisbane on Tuesday, Cummins said: “This conversation comes up every year really, and Cricket Australia has been pretty consistent over the last four or five years in the way they approach it.

“My personal opinion is I absolutely love Australia. It’s the best country in the world by a mile and I think we should have an Australia Day, but I think we can probably find a more appropriate date to celebrate it.”

Cummins has been outspoken on environmental and social issues in the past as national captain, but has not so bluntly articulated his viewpoint on the Australia Day debate.

The captain said conversations he had had with Indigenous cricketers Ash Gardner and Scott Boland had influenced his thoughts on the issue.

“Knowing a couple of those players [Gardner and Boland], you hear the stories and their feelings. Something that does gather extra importance.

“I think it is hard because January 26 does mean something different to different people. I think we’re all in unison that we absolutely love Australia and feel really lucky and privileged to be here in this country. But it is a delicate one. It’s going to be a tough day for some.”

Cricket Australia boss Nick Hockley tried to explain the organisation’s Australia Day stance.Credit: Brook Mitchell

Cummins’ comments came after chief executive Nick Hockley stumbled and froze on Sydney radio on Tuesday when asked to explain Cricket Australia’s position.

“Are you there, Nick?” 2GB host Ben Fordham asked when the line went silent.

“I think I’ve explained our position,” Hockley eventually said, wrongly stating that Australia Day would not be mentioned by the ground announcer during the second day of the Test.

Hockley later issued a clarification.

“While we do not refer to Australia Day in our marketing and promotional material, and haven’t done for more than four years, in regard to welcoming people with the ground announcement prior to play on Friday, I’d like to clarify that this will include reference to Australia Day,” he said in a statement.

“As we have said for several years when we play cricket on January 26, while many people celebrate Australia Day, for others, especially many Indigenous Australians, it is a very difficult day.”

The issue of playing matches on Australia Day has been an ongoing issue for Cricket Australia since 2023 when women’s Indigenous player Gardner criticised the scheduling of a women’s T20 match against Pakistan.

Australian women’s captain Meg Lanning backed Gardner’s stance at the time. Gardner and fast bowler Boland have both criticised the decision to play international matches on January 26, describing it as a national day of mourning.

Australian opener Usman Khawaja, who has been outspoken about the humanitarian impact of the conflict in the Middle East, also supports a change to the date of the holiday.

“I think in particular a sport like cricket, which has such diversity and has millions of people following it and supporting it and playing it, you get a good spectrum of just the community and a good feel for what the community expects,” Cummins said while promoting a solar panel project with Cricket Australia in his role as leader of Cricket for Climate.

“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 [that].”

Ashleigh Gardner opposes playing cricket on January 26. Credit: Getty

Cummins was part of an announcement that Cricket Australia and Cricket for Climate have collaborated to install solar power at the National Cricket Centre in Brisbane. The project will save $50,000 in energy costs in the first year and follows several Australian players supporting the installation of solar power systems at their local cricket clubs.

Asked how he felt about a noisy fringe calling him a “woke warrior” or “captain planet” who should concentrate on cricket, Cummins said “change is a little bit uncomfortable at times”.

“But I think it’s change that’s really important, that needs to be made,” he said. “And in terms of the actual projects, there’s a few reasons why we’re doing them. One is absolutely to reduce our carbon footprint and emissions. Two is to spark some of those difficult conversations that maybe people don’t have traditionally.

“And three, as a cricket lover, someone who’s been fortunate, I owe a lot to cricket. This is putting money back into community cricket clubs, it’s helping grassroots programs, junior male and female programs, some of these programs that are really tough to find funding for, and we’re unlocking a few extra thousand dollars for a lot of these community clubs.”

The Australian team trained on Tuesday ahead of the Brisbane Test, starting Thursday. Travis Head was absent from that session after testing positive for COVID-19. The No.5 batsman is expected to train on Wednesday, and will play in the Test match starting Thursday, potentially under isolation protocols if he is still testing positive for the virus.

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