Tim Paine-led Australia is currently leading the Ashes 2019 by a margin of 1-0. The visitors managed to win the first Test against host England by 251 runs at the Edgbaston in Birmingham. Steve Smith scored back to back centuries to guide the team to victory.
In the second Test at Lord’s in London, the Aussies held their nerve and managed to draw the contest on the fifth day. Smith again stood up with a gutsy 92 but was hit on the neck by a nasty bouncer from Jofra Archer. The former Australian skipper suffered a concussion and was, therefore, ruled out of the third Test at the Headingley in Leeds.
The big golden flower on the Australian players’ shirt collars in the ongoing Ashes series has got social media buzzing, and a recent Cricket Australia report says it is a symbol of commitment as a team to reconciliation and finding common ground with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
The collar badge is a representation of a piece of Australian native art called “Walkabout Wickets”, by Aunty Fiona Clarke, the great-great-grand-daughter of “Mosquito”, a member of the pioneering Aboriginal team that toured England in 1868.
The artwork depicts past, present and future Aboriginal cricketers.
There is a large circle in the logo which represents the hallowed Lord’s cricket ground, one of the many famous grounds the 1868 team visited, while the smaller circles signify the teams’ other meeting places.
The flying stumps mean Aboriginal cricketers getting the better of the English at their own game, while wickets with no bails signify that the game is continuously evolving.
