Thirty-five years after an all-Indigenous cricket team toured England, played at the game's hallowed Lord's Cricket Ground and met Queen Elizabeth II, a reunion is taking shape.
But far from English shores, the 1988 team is heading back to where it all began, the tiny Western Victorian town of Edenhope.
Local historian and author Helen Mulraney-Roll says the unassuming town has an Indigenous cricketing heritage going back to 1868.
"When people visit this area, they are usually staggered to learn what an important place we have in Australian cricket history," she said.
"The 1988 side followed in the footsteps of an even earlier team of Indigenous cricketers.
"Edenhope is home to Australia's first ever international touring team – an all-Indigenous XI who travelled to England in 1868 and played over 40 matches, well before the first Ashes."
Retracing history
Mulraney-Roll herself is tied to the story and the region's cricket history.
Her ancestor, pastoralist Thomas Gibson Hamilton from Bringalbert Station, was the instigator of early cricket matches.
Hamilton was a "terrific all-round sportsman", Mulraney-Roll said, and introduced the game to his friends who were Indigenous stockmen from nearby sheep stations, and other local landowners.
"He took it upon himself to teach them to play cricket in around 1864," she said.
"He saw how skillful they were, and so set up a match between pastoralists and an Aboriginal side.
"They played on rough ground behind the Bringalbert Station woolshed, and in that first match, the Aboriginal side was victorious."
The 1868 all-Indigenous side went on to sail to England and consisted of 13 stockmen from Victoria's western districts.
They played 47 matches against intermediate-level English amateur teams.
The team won 14 games, lost 14 and tied the rest, but received little acclaim after they returned to Australia.
"Despite their success and the historic significance of their achievements, they were largely forgotten about," Mulraney-Roll said
"It was a source of much sadness for Tom, who was stuck on the station.
"He was sad not only that they didn't receive the recognition they deserved, but that they were mistreated and ultimately exploited along the way."
Community honours Indigenous cricketers
The Edenhope community has not forgotten its Indigenous cricketers of 1868 or 1988.
It has erected monuments and educational signs and opened a historical centre in nearby Harrow.
This June the town is holding a reunion.
"We want to get as many of the 1988 side together as possible, for a reunion back in Edenhope," Mulraney-Roll said.
"While they played and travelled under much better conditions than their forebears, the '88 side have also been largely forgotten when it comes to Australia's cricket history – and we want to change that," she said.
The 1988 team was made up of Indigenous cricketers from every Australian state and territory.
They played feature matches in Edenhope, Harrow and Sydney before they headed to England.
Former test cricketer Peter Sleep was born at Penola, near Edenhope and played in the Prime Minister's XI against the Indigenous team before their tour of England.
"They left Sydney with the blessing of then-prime minister Bob Hawke, catching him out for a duck against fast bowler Dennis Lillee," Sleep said.
"I was playing shield cricket at the time, and because I came from the local region, they wanted me to be part of the opposition side."
The Prime Minister's XI lost the match.
"Ian Chappell, Len Pascoe were all part of the team but the Indigenous side beat us," Sleep said.
Hawke pulls strings with Queen
Following in the footsteps of the 1868 team, the 1988 all-Indigenous tour was also a success.
"[They] went on to do very well in the UK, playing 26 one-dayers, winning 16 and losing 10," Sleep said.
"The story goes that there was some conjecture as to whether they'd get a match at Lords, but Bob Hawke took matters into his own hands and rang Queen Elizabeth.
"Within 10 minutes, Queen Elizabeth II got back to him and said, 'It's all organised, you're playing at Lords.'"
The 1988 team also met Queen Elizabeth II and rock band INXS.
Thirty-five years on, a team reunion is now taking shape.
"We're in the early stages of reuniting the team as well as well-known cricketers from that era who played against them," Mulraney-Roll said.
"I feel it's so important to remember what a great part of our cricket and sporting history these two Indigenous sides were … and the role that Edenhope and Harrow have played in that story, too."
