Pat Cummins, the captain of Australia, went to one of the Indigenous towns on the edge of the Northern Territory to bring attention to early childhood development.
Before the highly anticipated ICC WTC final and the Ashes 2023, Cummins went to Borroloola, a small town in the Northern Territory, where he talked about the problems the locals face.
“Most of the time, they didn’t care much about me (laughs). We wanted to give kids a hand. You hear about a lot of programs around the world. Well, some places in Australia have the same terrible problems as anywhere else. The soccer games for the Borroloola community team, which plays out of the school, are eight hours away. “My childhood was nothing like this,” Pat Cummins told cricket.com.au.
“It’s really hard to get an education and a job in those places. You see and hear so many different things than I did when I was growing up in western Sydney. Giving them these opportunities is a real anchor in their lives for a lot of them. It gives the teachers a reason to live beyond their own families. They become real leaders and grow as people,” he said.
Pat Cummins became an ambassador for UNICEF Australia and went to the remote area as part of a program. UNICEF also hoped that the skipper’s trip to Borroloola would help bring attention to the fact that Indigenous and non-Indigenous children don’t have the same life outcomes.
The skipper also spent time with people in a small town that was prone to flooding. He talked to older people, played with children, and found out what it was like to live in a remote place. The one-off Test between the two fierce foes is set to start on June 7 at the Oval in London. The prized mace will be at stake.