The First Aboriginal Cricket Stars
<p>The first group of Australian sportspeople to ever represent the country overseas were an Aboriginal team of cricketers, who began an acclaimed tour of England on 25th May, 1868.</p><br><p>The team had to face racism, illness and ignorance - but won the hearts of thousands of spectators, and the British establishment. They also did some awesome spear-throwing.</p><br><p>In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly trace back the story to Tom Wills, one of the inventors of Aussie-rules football; reveal why Charles Darwin played a role in inspiring the crowds of spectators; and explain how this pioneering team created the first indigenous cricketing stars in Australia...</p><br><p><strong>Further Reading:</strong></p><p>• ‘Aboriginal cricket: The first Australian tour of England, 1868’ (BBC, 2013):</p><p><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-23225434" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-23225434</a></p><p>• ‘Batting for the British Empire: The Role Cricket Played In Colonialism’ (HistoryExtra, 2021): <a href="https://www.historyextra.com/period/cricket-colonialism-role-british-empire/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.historyextra.com/period/cricket-colonialism-role-british-empire/</a></p><p>• ‘Tom Wills, founder of Australian Football’ (Hallow Edition, 2014): <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fv6dAoUcSrM" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fv6dAoUcSrM</a></p><br><p><em>CONTENT WARNING: Members of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities are advised that this podcast contains names of deceased people.</em></p><br><p><strong>For bonus material and to support the show, visit</strong><a href="https://create.acast.com/episodes/ca1f94a1-0921-446a-ae00-4d4bfd2ba3ef/Patreon.com/Retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>&nbsp;</strong></a><a href="http://patreon.com/Retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Patreon.com/Retrospectors</strong></a></p><p><strong>We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts:</strong><a href="https://create.acast.com/episodes/ca1f94a1-0921-446a-ae00-4d4bfd2ba3ef/podfollow.com/Retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>&nbsp;</strong></a><a href="http://podfollow.com/Retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>podfollow.com/Retrospectors</strong></a></p><br><p><em>The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.</em></p><p><em>Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.</em></p><p><em>Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.</em></p><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
Today In History with The Retrospectors
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Show Notes
The first group of Australian sportspeople to ever represent the country overseas were an Aboriginal team of cricketers, who began an acclaimed tour of England on 25th May, 1868.
The team had to face racism, illness and ignorance - but won the hearts of thousands of spectators, and the British establishment. They also did some awesome spear-throwing.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly trace back the story to Tom Wills, one of the inventors of Aussie-rules football; reveal why Charles Darwin played a role in inspiring the crowds of spectators; and explain how this pioneering team created the first indigenous cricketing stars in Australia...
Further Reading:
• ‘Aboriginal cricket: The first Australian tour of England, 1868’ (BBC, 2013):
https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-23225434
• ‘Batting for the British Empire: The Role Cricket Played In Colonialism’ (HistoryExtra, 2021): https://www.historyextra.com/period/cricket-colonialism-role-british-empire/
• ‘Tom Wills, founder of Australian Football’ (Hallow Edition, 2014): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fv6dAoUcSrM
CONTENT WARNING: Members of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities are advised that this podcast contains names of deceased people.
For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors
We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors
The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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