Cricket Australia set to brief Pat Cummins, Meg Lanning and other senior stars ahead of ‘The Voice’ referendum

A number of senior Australian cricketers will be given a special briefing about The Voice referendum before Cricket Australia takes a public position.

Pat Cummins, Meg Lanning and other senior Australian cricketers are set to be given a special briefing about The Voice before they head off for the Ashes.

Cricket Australia plans to come out publicly with a position on The Voice in the coming weeks and wishes to consult with its stars beforehand and provide an opportunity for players to ask questions.

Australia is sending an indigenous men’s and women’s team to Vanuatu on Tuesday for a Twenty20 tour where a session educating young Aboriginal players about the upcoming referendum is also planned.

Cricket staff from around the country have already taken part in the briefing and sources say its purpose is to educate players and employees on what The Voice and the Uluru Statement of the Heart actually is, rather than instructing on how to vote.

Cricket has a curious and complicated connection with indigenous culture, and despite all the investment poured into pathways in recent years, the game can’t escape the sad fact only two Australian men’s Test cricketers and two female Test cricketers have been Aboriginal in over 140 years.

Pat Cummins will be among the senior players briefed on The Voice referendum. Picture: AFP Images

One of those greats, Aunty Faith Thomas who played a Test for Australia in the late 1950s and was one of the most significant pioneers in the history of indigenous cricket, will be commemorated by the Australian teams playing four games each against Vanuatu’s national teams, all to be aired on Cricket Australia’s YouTube channel from later this week.

Women’s indigenous captain and Australian international Hannah Darlington, praised CA for their work in educating players in regards to The Voice and Aboriginal matters.

“I know CA is continuing to have conversations around the referendum and make sure they’re educational conversations. I think that’s going to be something we’re going to be taking part in as a group,” Darlington said.

“CA is pretty good in terms of understanding where this group (men’s and women’s indigenous teams) is at in terms of age and youth and I think education is going to be the most important part.

“The main thing for CA and the players within is the fact we’ve had such a great relationship between cricket and First Nations’ people due to the Australian indigenous 1868 tour and then the commemoration indigenous tour in 2018 which took place.

“We love the impact we get to make in cricket as a positive one and we’re looking at how we can continue to do that, whether it’s through The Voice, whether it’s the work we keep doing through the NICC (National indigenous Cricket Council).

Meg Lanning will be among the other senior players briefed. Picture: AFP Images

“Cricket is in a pretty unique space and those conversations are going to be based around what cricket can do as a whole but probably more, we want to join that conversation in terms of what sport can do as a whole.”

Darlington is a four-time Australian representative with a huge international future ahead of her, but is embracing the opportunity to go on an indigenous tour of Vanuatu as a 21-year-old captain and experienced leader.

“I didn’t think I’d be one of the older girls in a squad just yet. Any time you get to represent your culture, it’s pretty special. When we get to come together and tour internationally, it brings a lot of connection. Sitting down, being able to talk about your mob and the questions you get to ask the people around you then creates a much more connected group in terms of, you’re all playing for the same reason, and that’s for your culture.”

Vanuatu has 25,000 cricketers among its 300,000 population and the Australian teams are motivated to help drive development in the small but dedicated cricketing nation.