How Cricket Australia hopes to negotiate Australia Day

Cricket Australia will consult Indigenous leaders on the best way to stage cricket on Australia Day as it plans to return January 26 to its summer calendar.

There is no cricket on Australia Day this summer because of a clash with the Australian Open tennis men’s final, but the desire to restore cricket to the contentious date is revealed in CA’s latest Reconciliation Action Plan, released this week.

Cricket star Ash Gardner would prefer there was no international or domestic cricket on Australia Day. Credit: Getty Images

Some Australian cricketers have raised concerns about playing on January 26, and a culture war erupted when CA dropped the term “Australia Day” from its marketing in 2021, prompting criticism from then prime minister Scott Morrison.

The action plan says the scheduling of matches on the day is the responsibility of Big Bash League boss Alistair Dobson, but a CA spokesman said on Wednesday that international cricket would also be played on January 26 if matches were required deep into the summer, as was the case when the West Indies and Australia played a Test at the Gabba this year.

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