Trailblazer whose name adorns the prize for player of the Boxing Day Test would be shocked at the lack of Indigenous Test cricketers in Australia’s history. Sam Konstas lit up the MCG with his audacious ‘ramp’ shots in the fourth Test against India. But Johnny ‘Unaarrim’ Mullagh, Australia’s first Indigenous sporting hero was ramping 150 summers ago.
![[Members of the trailblazing 1868 Aboriginal cricket side in which Johnny Mullagh was star.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/77989abc9ef5e98d7fe243bd990dee1145daf1c6/37_0_1125_675/master/1125.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
“Dropping on one knee to a fast rising ball, he would hold his bat over his shoulder and parallel to the ground,” wrote historian DJ Mulvaney of the man whose name adorns the medal that will be awarded to the best player of the Boxing Day Test, in a new edition of his book Cricket Walkabout. “The ball would touch the blade, and shoot high over the wicket-keeper’s head to the boundary.”.
![[The Johnny Mullagh Medal commemorating the trailblazing 1868 Indigenous cricket squad.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/384c52bae0ba059bc09adb74e9ec51affd0bd911/0_7_279_167/master/279.jpg?width=120&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
The fifth Johnny Mullagh Medal will be awarded today as a tribute to the legendary star of the Aboriginal side that toured England in 1868 - the first touring team to represent Australia on the world stage. Mullagh was a fierce advocate of Aboriginal rights and refused to live on the state-controlled reserves the team came home to. But despite Mullagh blazing the trail, Indigenous representation at top levels of Australian cricket remains disappointingly slight. Since Australia’s first Test in 1880, just eight Indigenous cricketers have represented Australia internationally across all formats.
![[In 1958 Faith Tinnipha Thomas became the first Indigenous Australian to play Test cricket.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/d5355ba17bf4bfda6fd5c7386aa77f27c7fc264e/0_69_1024_614/master/1024.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
It is a curious anomaly given the predominance of First Nations stars in the AFL and NRL. Inducting Mullagh into the Cricket Hall of Fame in 2021, Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley said: “Johnny Mullagh represents his entire team and the special place they have in cricket’s history,” he said. Special but also shameful. “Mullagh and the 1868 team’s story is one of resilience and triumph, as well as discrimination and tragedy.”.
![[Proud Kamilaroi man Jason Gillespie took 259 Test wickets for Australia across 71 Tests.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/838cb3048235f2b5939b5a255871c7f6a35d856e/0_3_3000_1801/master/3000.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
