2002-03 Annual R eport 2002-03 Annual R eport - Australian Sports ...

ATTRACT, DEVELOP AND KEEP PEOPLE IN THE GAME
Middle & bottom. Part of Cricket
Australia’s Game Development
brief is to extend cricket beyond
its traditional boundaries by
increasing participation
amongst Indigenous
communities.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cricket
As part of its commitment to extending cricket beyond its traditional boundaries, Cricket Australia has
continued the challenging task of increasing participation in Indigenous communities.
The bulk of the strategy involves exposing cricket to a culture under represented in the game since an
Aboriginal team made the first trip to England in 1868.
Broadly speaking, Indigenous cricket is guided by Cricket Australia’s National Indigenous Advisory
Committee which this year was assisted by a sub-committee in each state and territory.
The committees’ charter is to act as a reference group to provide Cricket Australia and state and
territory associations with information, advice and policy direction on Indigenous cricket matters.
As a result, Cricket Australia is rolling out an Indigenous cricket strategic plan adopted in January
2002 entitled Two Strong Cultures: Australia’s New Cricket Tradition which identifies a number of ways
cricket can be taken to Aboriginal people.
The plan’s objectives are to:
• increase participation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in all areas of cricket;
• educate both Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians to build knowledge for increased
cricket participation in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities;
• build an organisational structure and relationship that allows for effective two-way
communication between all stakeholders; and
• provide access to cricket facilities and equipment, appropriate to the needs of Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander communities.
The showpiece of the Indigenous program is the annual Prime Minister’s XI v Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) Chairman’s XI match that serves as an opportunity for talented
Indigenous cricketers to display their skills on a national stage.
In 2003 this match attracted a far greater development focus, with all members of the ATSIC
Chairman’s XI attending a training camp prior to the game at the Commonwealth Bank Cricket
Academy.
The all-Indigenous cricket carnival, the Imparja Cup, is another key plank of the Indigenous program
that sees representative teams from across the nation take part in a four-day tournament in Alice
Springs.
From that tournament, a 16-man development squad was selected, and, from that squad, certain
players joined members of the ATSIC Chairman’s XI to represent an Indigenous team at the State
Institute Challenge in far north Queensland during August 2003.
The year also saw the task of making cricket more accessible to Indigenous Australians continue, with
more than 200 junior cricket kits distributed to Aboriginal communities across the nation.
The Australian Sports Commission’s Indigenous Sports Program contributes heavily to these
initiatives.
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