1. Season recommencement dates

Community cricket games: 1-2 February.

Blasters: 2 February

All Abilities: 7 February

Junior Districts: as per the Districts’ programme.

Reconciliation rounds: 1-8 February 2020

Cricket Australia’s inaugural Reconciliation Round for Community and Premier clubs for the 2019/20 season starts on 1 February 2020. CA encourages clubs around Australia to celebrate and acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders peoples and cultures on that weekend. The WACA in turn is encouraging clubs to participate in the Reconciliation Round between 1-8 February. The WACA link https://www.waca.com.au/get-involved/aboriginal-cricket contains more information about this, which I encourage parents to read with their children.

For those interested in history:

Aboriginal teams played against the MCC in the 1866 Boxing Day Match and then toured England in 1868 (being the first Australian side to tour England).

The Swanbourne and Claremont areas, including Lake Claremont next to CNCC’s Cresswell Park, were inhabited by local Aboriginals. From the State Heritage WA website:

“Prior to European settlement the locality of Swanbourne and the wider district of Claremont was known as Mooro and was associated with aboriginal people of the Whudjuck Nyungar group.”

And from the Town of Claremont website:

“Lake Claremont (previously known as Butler’s Swamp by the early settlers and as Galbamaanup by the aboriginal people) belongs to the complex wetland systems of the Swan River & coastal plains. According to Nyungar tradition, the wetland was created by the Waugal and continues to be of religious significance to the Nyungar people. The area was traditionally used for camping and hunting. Nyungar families continued to camp there until they were moved on by the Government of the day in 1951.”

The CNCC Board supports the Reconciliation Rounds and would like all CNCC teams to hold an Acknowledgement of Country before their games on the weekend of 8 February. Many of us and our children are already familiar with an Acknowledgement of Country from work, school or community activities. For the Reconciliation Rounds, players and umpires will remove their shoes and form a barefoot circle with arms on each other’s backs and the Acknowledgement of Country will be led by the CNCC team captain on the day and be in the following form as approved by the WACA:

“We would like to acknowledge the Whadjuk [whar-juk] people of the Noongar [nyun-gaa] Nation, the traditional owners and custodians of the land on which we play today, and pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.”

Long weekend: 29 February & 1 March 2020

Blasters will be happening on Sunday 1 March 2020, but there will be no Community cricket games over the long weekend.