Nearly 150 years ago, the MCG saw the start of a much-loved tradition, with a match starring Aboriginal players
Ashley Mallett27-Dec-2014On December 26, 1866, the legendary Tom Wills pitted his team of Aboriginal cricketers against the Melbourne Cricket Club at the MCG. This game was the genesis of the nation’s most-loved summer fixture, the Boxing Day Test, and the catalyst for Australian sport’s first major overseas tour – the 1868 Aboriginal cricket tour of England.Wills was a famous footballer and cricketer for Geelong and Victoria. But he lived at a time when racism was rife throughout the colony. Those who suffered most were indigenous Australians. Wills was one among the few white men who formed a strong relationship with the Aboriginal people. After a stint in Queensland, where his father and other family members died in a massacre at the hands of Aboriginals, Wills returned to Victoria and not only did he renew friendships with the Aboriginal people whom he had known as a teenager, he set about putting a cricket team together consisting of them.Initially, Wills wanted the 1866 match to be played in November, but most of the Aboriginal players were top-flight shearers and there was a strong demand from the stations for their labour at shearing time. It was decided to stage the match after the shearing and the most mutually acceptable date was Boxing Day.Around 8000 people turned up to watch. The MCC batted first. Johnny Cuzens bowled like the wind, taking six wickets and helping Wills (2) and Johnny Mullagh (2) bowl MCC out for 101. The crowd roared their approval at the Aboriginal team’s fielding performance, their athleticism delighting all and sundry. Like Ricky Ponting in the modern era, all the Aboriginal fieldsmen walked in briskly, ever on the balls of their feet to move swiftly in any direction.Cuzens starred at point, Tarpot was at long stop, Billy Officer fielded either long leg or cover, Peter was at short leg, Dick-a-Dick at mid-on, Jellico was cover or long leg, Sundown was long slip, Paddy was a third man, and the captain, Wills, fielded either short slip or point.
Jellico was the crowd favourite. A newspaper article quoted him answering a question put to him by a white fan: “What for you no talk to me good Inglis. I speak him as good Inglis belonging you”
The Aboriginal players wore different coloured hat bands so that spectators could easily identify them. Cards with the players’ names and “colour” were sold around the ground.When Ben Wardill came to the crease the Aboriginal players became very excited and, according to a newspaper report, “took off their hats and gave the hurrah in fine British style!” Wardill was an Englishman who immigrated to Australia in 1861. He kept wicket for MCC and Victoria, became secretary of the Melbourne Cricket Club in 1879, and managed three Australian Test tours of England, in 1886, 1899 and 1902.Tom Horan was brilliantly caught at long leg and the crowd went wild, inspiring Tarpot to entertain them with a double somersault, which nearly brought the house down.Mullagh revealed his artistry with a compact 16, while wickets tumbled about him. It was a courageous knock, given that his middle finger was split, the flesh laid bare to the bone. Despite Mullagh’s courage in the first innings and his classy 33 batting a second time, MCC won the day easily.Jellico was the crowd favourite. A newspaper article quoted him answering a question put to him by a white fan: “What for you no talk to me good Inglis. I speak him as good Inglis belonging you.” Having settled with the fan, Jellico turned to Tarpot, saying, “Big one fool that fellow. He not know him Inglis one dam.” When someone suggested that Jellico ask Wills to teach him to read and write, Jellico said: “What usy Wills. He too much along of us. He speak nothing now but blackfellow talk.” Newspaper reporters loved speaking with Jellico. Little wonder when he came up with this gem in the wake of all the general conversation about Melbourne’s scorching weather: “I spoil my complexion. When I go back, my mother won’t know me.”While the outcome of the match was of no real consequence, the statistically minded need only know that MCC hit 101 and the Aboriginals 39 and 87. So MCC required just a few overs to complete the rout. While the Aboriginals were outclassed in this match, the MCC members and cricket writers praised Johnny Mullagh, Bullocky, the hard-hitting wicketkeeper-batsman, and Cuzens, who was called a “capital” bowler.The Melbourne Cricket Ground in 1898•Getty ImagesAfter the 1866 Boxing Day match, Wills took a team to Sydney, whereupon he was keen to drum some tough cricket into his charges with the view of taking them to England.However, it came unstuck when Wills came under a cloud about having allegedly plied his men with the demon drink. The finances and organisation of the trip were also in a shambles, and it had to be called off early. On the return journey to Victoria by bullock cart, Watty, a replacement for Sugar, who passed away suddenly before the Boxing Day match, died just 25km from Edenhope.Soon after the side returned home, Jellico and Paddy died from the ravages of pneumonia. An inquest failed to find the true cause of the deaths of all these men, but rumour had it that Wills had something to do with it.As it turned out, Wills missed the 1868 tour. He was shoved aside by Charles Lawrence, who came to Australia with HH Stephenson’s first England touring team and became captain-coach of the 1868 touring side.Boxing Day wasn’t always a time for Test matches alone. Over the Christmas period in the 1950s, some classic, hard-fought contests were played by Sheffield Shield heavies NSW and Victoria. They were always classic encounters, and with all the Test men available, these games were often of a better quality than the Test cricket of the era. These days, of course, the Boxing Day Test is the showpiece cricket match of the Australian summer. Spare a thought for all those who played that first big match on Boxing Day 1866. What a legacy they left Australian cricket.
