The Aboriginal Pioneers – Australian Sport’s First Tour Part One

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by Satish Sekar © Satish Sekar (October 11^th 2009)[a]

Editor’s Note

The 74^th Ashes Series will begin in November 2025 in Perth, Australia. England has won 32 series outright and retained the Ashes once as they were the holders in a drawn series – Australia has kept the Ashes six times in drawn series. They have won 34 series outright, meaning they have held the Ashes 40 times, compared to England’s 33.

            The first tour by Australians took place before the ‘first’ Ashes Series. It was made by Aboriginals in 1968. It has taken far too long to credit their achievements, some of which are detailed below.

The Editor

The Pioneers

Ricky Ponting took a break after the Ashes series, missing the start of the One-Day International series. He flies around in style. Over a century ago it was vastly different, especially for Aboriginal cricketers, who were the first to represent Australia in any sport on tour.¹ There were no aeroplanes in 1868 so the journey to England took three months by sea – a hard experience in its own right. Plans for them to return and tour again the following year were scrapped, partly due to lack of finance, but also because racist legislation that was supposed to be protectionist made it impossible for indigenous cricketers to travel freely outside of the colony of Victoria.

The tour itself proved difficult to organise, partly through greedy entrepreneurs looking to exploit an opportunity to make money and also, health issue among the players. Some promising players proved their worth, but fell ill, or died before the tour could be finalised. A hotelier and former cricketer, Charles Lawrence, was persuaded to manage and captain the team, which included some very talented players, especially Unaarimin, also known as Johnny Mullagh.

He was joined on the tour by Arrahmunijarrimun (Peter): Ballrinjarrimin (Sundown), Boninbarngeet (Tiger), Brimbunyah (Red Cap), Bripumyarrimin or Brippokei (King Cole), Bullchanach (Bullocky), Grougarrong (Mosquito), Jallachmurrimin (Jim Crow), Jungunjinanuke (Dick-a-Dick), Murrumgunarriman (Twopenny), Pripumuarraman (Charley Dumas), and Zellanach (Cuzens). In their lifetimes they were known by nicknames or names given to them by white people. Their Aboriginal names are now rightly acknowledged and celebrated as is their achievement.

The Tour

Bripumyarrimin succumbed to tuberculosis on June 24^th 1868 and is buried in London[1] and Ballrinjarrimin and Jallachmurrimin returned to Australia due to illness in August – they had arrived in May 1868. At least some of the reporting of the tour was outrageously racist even in terms of the times – reporters judged them a travesty without even bothering to see them play. Nevertheless, a crowd of twenty-thousand attended their first match at the Kennington Oval – whether from curiosity or love of the sport – they soon saw that the indigenous Australians could play cricket.

They also played pass-times such as a throwing a cricket ball-throwing competition to entertain the crowds; they were narrowly beaten by the then emerging cricket great William (WG) Grace. After close of play they gave exhibitions of spear-throwing and boomerang-throwing and Jungunjinanuke demonstrated his mastery of the use of a traditional shield and club by inviting spectators to throw balls at him, which he parried numerous times.

Unaarimin was their outstanding player, scoring 1698 runs at an average of around twenty, which may not seem much, but was impressive when the type of pitches was taken into account. He was their best bowler too, taking 245 wickets at a cost of around ten runs each – a truly exceptional performance over such an exacting tour. George Tarrant[2] played first class cricket in England and was rated the second fastest bowler in the country at the time. He bowled to Unaarimin in a lunch interval and declared him the best batsman that he had ever bowled to. This was the quality of play that the indigenous team offered to English audiences, but the players were treated poorly on their return to Australia.

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[1] He was buried in what was then known as Victoria Park Cemetery, which fell into disuse in 1876. It is now known as Meath Gardens in the London Borough of Towe Hamlets. A memorial plaque was placed there in June 1988 – it says: ‘In memory of King Cole, Aboriginal cricketer, who died on the 24 June 1868. Your Aboriginal dreamtime home. Wish you peace’. 

[2] In an era of amateurs and ‘gentlemen’ players, Tarrant was a professional. He played for Cambridgeshire in the 1860s. He died in 1870, aged just 31 before Test Matches were played, so he never had the chance to play for England.

[a] This article was first published in the Magazine in 2009. It was originally not in two parts, but it has been split for the convenience of readers.