Australia Post 150th Anniversary of the 1868 Aboriginal Team that Toured England

AUSTRALIA POST on 1 May 2018 issued a First Day Cover stamps celebrating the 150th anniversary of the 1868 Aboriginal team that toured the UK continue. The stamp featured 10 Aboriginal members of the original 1868 playing squad, as well as captain Charles Lawrence, an English professional who coached and mentored the Aboriginal players, and team manager W Shepherd. Shown here is a maxim card of the team with the stamp affixed to it.

The stamp design, by Phil Ellett of Creative Ethos, incorporated player portraits from one of the few remaining photos of the Aboriginal XI taken while on tour in 1868, from the collection of the National Library of Australia. The portrait shows  the team in July 1868, midway through their tour, along with their manager. It does not feature King Cole (Bripumyarrimin) who contracted a fatal case of tuberculosis early in the tour, nor Sundown (Ballrinjarrimin) or Jim Crow (Lytejerbillijun) who returned home soon after. The background of the stamp design is a fence typical of those that existed at the sporting fields at the time, taken from a photograph of the Lord’s ground in England.

 

Altogether, the 1868 Aboriginal XI played 47 matches throughout England over a period of six months, winning 14, losing 14 and drawing 19; a good result that surprised many at the time. Their skills were said to range from individuals who were exceptional athletes down to two or three other team members who hardly contributed at all. The outstanding player was Johnny Mullagh. He scored 1,698 runs and took 245 wickets. An admired English fast bowler of the time, George Tarrant, bowled to Mullagh during a lunch interval and later said, "I have never bowled to a better batsman."

Source: Australian Cricket