{"id":232460,"date":"2025-07-02T16:41:33","date_gmt":"2025-07-02T16:41:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/232460\/"},"modified":"2025-07-02T16:41:33","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T16:41:33","slug":"aussie-cricket-bosses-make-shock-decision-about-the-most-controversial-day-on-the-national-calendar-and-fans-will-be-furious","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/232460\/","title":{"rendered":"Aussie cricket bosses make shock decision about the most controversial day on the national calendar &#8211; and fans will be furious"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul class=\"mol-bullets-with-font\">\n<li class=\"class\"><strong>Cricket Australia will avoid fixtures on Australia Day in 2026<\/strong><\/li>\n<li class=\"class\"><strong>January 26 has become a very divisive day for Australians<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"author-section byline-plain\">By <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/profile-143\/james-cooney.html\" class=\"author\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">JAMES COONEY FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA<\/a> <\/p>\n<p class=\"byline-section\"> Published:  03:21 EDT, 2 July 2025   |  Updated:  03:22 EDT, 2 July 2025   <\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Cricket fans across the nation won&#8217;t see any games played on <a style=\"font-weight: bold;\" target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/australia-day\/index.html\" id=\"mol-3b452ef0-5708-11f0-ba45-8757c2db9666\" class=\"class\" rel=\"noopener\">Australia Day<\/a> in 2026 &#8211; marking the second year in a row the sport&#8217;s bosses have backed out of holding matches on the public holiday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">The Big Bash League will conclude on Sunday, January 25, but there will be no major cricket game on the following day.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Cricket <a style=\"font-weight: bold;\" target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/australia-cricket\/index.html\" id=\"mol-3b483c30-5708-11f0-ba45-8757c2db9666\" rel=\"noopener\">Australia<\/a> has grappled with how to treat the national public holiday after controversially banning the term &#8216;Australia Day&#8217; four years ago.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Last summer cricket wasn&#8217;t played on the day because it clashed with the <a style=\"font-weight: bold;\" target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/australian_open\/index.html\" id=\"mol-3b4ca900-5708-11f0-ba45-8757c2db9666\" rel=\"noopener\">Australian Open<\/a>\u00a0tennis &#8211; but that won&#8217;t be the case in 2026.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">In late 2024, Cricket Australia CEO Todd Greenberg said that going forward Australia Day will be celebrated and cricket will be played &#8211; so it is a surprise that there will be no cricket in 2026.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">The decision to schedule the Test over the Australia Day weekend in 2024 was itself controversial, with women&#8217;s all-rounder <a style=\"font-weight: bold;\" target=\"_self\" class=\"class\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/cricket\/article-11743131\/Indigenous-cricket-star-Ash-Gardner-opens-labelling-Australia-Day-celebration-hurt.html\" rel=\"noopener\">Ash Gardner previously describing it as a day of &#8216;hurt and mourning&#8217;.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>   <img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-be7f67a86e5d1f8b\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/80327121-14867073-Cricket_Australia_refused_to_mention_the_national_public_holiday-a-151_17514349484.jpeg\" height=\"433\" width=\"634\" alt=\"Cricket fans across the nation won't be able to see any fixtures on Australia Day next year\" class=\"blkBorder img-share\" style=\"max-width:100%\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>   <\/p>\n<p class=\"imageCaption\">Cricket fans across the nation won&#8217;t be able to see any fixtures on Australia Day next year<\/p>\n<p>   <img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-1a71a57269b21abd\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/99918933-14867073-image-a-152_1751435090227.jpg\" height=\"951\" width=\"634\" alt=\"Australia cricket captain Pat Cummins (pictured) has called for the the date of Australia Day to be changed\" class=\"blkBorder img-share\" style=\"max-width:100%\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>   <\/p>\n<p class=\"imageCaption\">Australia cricket captain Pat Cummins (pictured) has called for the the date of Australia Day to be changed<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Gardner found support from men&#8217;s Test captain Pat Cummins and star batter Steve Smith.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Both claimed January 26 is not an appropriate time to celebrate the national holiday, with the date a highly controversial issue due to the landing of the First Fleet from Britain in Australia.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Smith formed his view after chatting with teammate Scott Boland, who has Indigenous heritage.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">However Cricket Australia&#8217;s attempt to placate such opponents by shying away from acknowledging the national day also angered players who wanted the day celebrated.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Former Test player Greg Ritchie was one of those.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;I am quite disappointed to read the Cricket Australia has decided not to use the phrase &#8216;Australia Day&#8217; for this Test match,&#8217; Ritchie said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;It will be at the Gabba, which is my home ground, and to have an Australia Day Test there is special.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">The stance of the cricketers who support not playing on the day angered some sections of the public, with 3AW Morning host Tom Elliott scathing in his criticism of Cummins.<\/p>\n<p>   <img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-547e74324deeeba7\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/92939023-14867073-Indigenous_cricketers_Scott_Boland_and_Ash_Gardner_have_expresse-a-162_17514353612.jpeg\" height=\"556\" width=\"634\" alt=\"Indigenous cricketers Scott Boland and Ash Gardner have expressed their reservations about playing on Australia Day\" class=\"blkBorder img-share\" style=\"max-width:100%\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>   <\/p>\n<p class=\"imageCaption\">Indigenous cricketers Scott Boland and Ash Gardner have expressed their reservations about playing on Australia Day<\/p>\n<p>   <img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-ad434628cb846558\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/92939093-14867073-Australian_cricket_CEO_Todd_Greenberg_pictured_says_that_going_f-a-153_17514351489.jpeg\" height=\"558\" width=\"634\" alt=\"Australian cricket CEO Todd Greenberg (pictured) said in 2024 that going forward Australia Day will be celebrated by the sporting body - so the move has come as a shock\" class=\"blkBorder img-share\" style=\"max-width:100%\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>   <\/p>\n<p class=\"imageCaption\">Australian cricket CEO Todd Greenberg (pictured) said in 2024 that going forward Australia Day will be celebrated by the sporting body &#8211; so the move has come as a shock<\/p>\n<p>   <img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-ce7015c24c1609dc\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/99918941-14867073-image-a-154_1751435153051.jpg\" height=\"793\" width=\"634\" alt=\"Cricket Australia has grappled with how to treat the national public holiday banning the term 'Australia Day' four years ago (Nathan Lyon pictured with wife Emma)\" class=\"blkBorder img-share\" style=\"max-width:100%\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>   <\/p>\n<p class=\"imageCaption\">Cricket Australia has grappled with how to treat the national public holiday banning the term &#8216;Australia Day&#8217; four years ago (Nathan Lyon pictured with wife Emma)<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;He makes me angry,&#8217; Elliott said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;He sits there and pontificates, saying &#8220;ah, well Australia Day is a source of hurt for so many people, we have to move the date&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;Hey Pat Cummins, you get paid millions of dollars to pay cricket. If it wasn&#8217;t for the British settlement of Australia there wouldn&#8217;t be cricket here.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;So you make money, quite directly, out of the fact we were colonised by the UK.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;Then you sit there criticising the whole thing. He is just an out-and-out hypocrite.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>                    Share or comment on this article:<br \/>\n                        Aussie cricket bosses make shock decision about the most controversial day on the national calendar &#8211; and fans will be furious<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cricket Australia will avoid fixtures on Australia Day in 2026 January 26 has become a very divisive day&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":232461,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4101],"tags":[23273,1406,92,29003,93,79,70102,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-232460","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cricket","8":"tag-australia-cricket","9":"tag-cricket","10":"tag-dailymail","11":"tag-pat-cummins","12":"tag-sport","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-steve-smith","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114784638512191447","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=232460"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232460\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/232461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=232460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=232460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=232460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}