Test star Scott Boland has backed calls to scrap international cricket being played on January 26, with the Gulidjan man saying it was not a date to celebrate.

Boland is Australia’s second-ever Indigenous male Test cricketer, and his comments come after women’s star Ash Gardner recommitted to remarks she made in January of this year that the national side should not play on January 26.

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Gardner told News Corp this week it was “not overly appropriate” for the national teams to play on a “day of mourning”, with the men’s team scheduled to play day two of the second Test against the West Indies next summer at the Gabba on January 26.

Speaking to News Corp at a national team training camp in Brisbane ahead of The Ashes, Boland said he supported Gardner’s position, but would still play if selected.

Boland says January 26 isn’t a day to celebrate. (Photo by William WEST / AFP)

“I fully support Ash’s comments. I don’t think January 26 is the day to celebrate. It’s not really a fully inclusive day where everyone can celebrate Australia,” Boland said.

“We live in such a great country that I think it should be a date where everyone in the country can celebrate it, no matter what background you’re from.

“I don’t think it’s the right day to celebrate, but I’ll still be playing on that day if selected.”

Gardner, a Muruwari woman, expressed her disappointment given her public criticism of Cricket Australia when the women’s schedule was released.

“I said my opinion (this year) and I told the people that it mattered to. For this to happen again but just to the men’s side … I guess there’s certainly disappointment around it,” Gardner said.

“There’s still someone like Scott Boland in and around that Test team who is of that cultural background. Not that it matters that an Aboriginal person is in those teams – it’s the history of this country.

“I just don’t understand why this one day of the year – which is a day of mourning, which doesn’t have a very good history of what happened on that day, that there needs to be cricket.”

“I see sport as a celebration and entertainment and an event you want to go to. Why does there need to be something that represents something that’s quite morbid.

“It’s probably not overly appropriate.”

Gardner has been outspoken on cricket being scheduled on January 26 before. Photo by Phil Hillyard

Gardner’s calls have been backed by players across the men’s and women’s game, with former captain Alex Blackwell saying the women’s team have “shown they stand by (Ash Gardner) and they are reflecting on what 26th of January means.

“If the Australian cricket team plays on this (date), they have a powerful opportunity to acknowledge the longest living culture on earth. But this asks a lot of our athletes.”

Recently retired white-ball specialist Dan Christian, who is himself a Wiradjuri man, said “changing the date can be a start” to making “meaningful improvements to the systemic and cyclical issues affecting our people”.

Current Test opener Usman Khawaja, the current Test side’s only player of colour, said he didn’t have an issue with the date, but deferred to First Nations people on the issue.

“I can only speak for myself. I don’t have an issue with it,” Khawaja said.

“But if First Nations people and if communities do, then I think we need to explore that and talk about it.”

Cricket Australia’s cricket operations boss Peter Roach said that the governing body had consulted with its Indigenous advisory group when it came to scheduling, but that it was one of many considerations.

“We have a really tight schedule where we need to fit lots of games and we make those decisions with all those factors taken into account and try and make it work for us,” Roach said.

“We consult widely on this, whether we should play games on the 26th of January, and through our own internal group called NATSICAC, we ask their opinion and seek their feedback and think all things considered starting on the 26th of January was an appropriate time.

“My job is balancing lots of things, lots of stakeholders, lots of different groups and lots of opinions. We try and find the best outcome for Australian cricket.”

It comes as Cricket Australia begins to finalise its position on the Voice to Parliament referendum, following other sporting organisations such as the NRL making their positions on a Yes vote clear.

Indigenous white-ball specialist Dan Christian has also come out in support of changing the date. (Photo by Matt Roberts/Getty Images)

It is understood that elite Indigenous players are being actively consulted in the process, which women’s captain Meg Lanning expects to settle “sometime within the next month or so”.

The 2023/24 home Australian summer, following a men’s ODI World Cup in India, is scheduled to begin with the women playing against the West Indies on October 1 at North Sydney Oval.

The men are scheduled to play three Tests against Pakistan starting in Perth on December 14, before two Tests against the West Indies beginning in Adelaide on January 17.

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