Perth Scorchers fans will get their chance to secure a unique piece of club history during the Big Bash First Nations round.
Perth’s clash with the Adelaide Strikers at Optus Stadium on Wednesday night is the second game of a doubleheader to open the league’s First Nations round.
The Scorchers are set to wear an Indigenous-designed playing shirt, but they have gone a step further, embracing the round and commissioning a series of bespoke painted bats.
Aboriginal artists Sharee Martell, Laurence Collard and Deborah Bonar each designed and painted a bat to be auctioned.
Ms Martell, whose heritage hails from Jaru country in the Kimberley, said she took inspiration from the land, including the Swan River that flows next to the stadium, to create her art.
“I was pretty thrilled to be asked to do it,” she told The West Australian.
“I thought about the Whaduk Noongar country the Scorchers are playing on. I did a flowing design along the bottom representing the Whadjuk Noongar land the Scorchers are playing on, and the orange obviously represents the Scorchers. Then, above that were four interconnecting circles.
“They symbolise the Scorchers, the opponents, the members and the community all coming together on Whadjuk Noongar country. (It’s about) respecting the land we live on and respecting the culture, and these bats will look good in anyone’s home or boardroom or office.”
Fans at the match will also be treated to an innings-break LED light show sharing a cultural narrative of Whadjuk country, created by Dr Richard Walley OAM.
WACA CEO Christina Matthews said the club has always been proud to “pay tribute” to First Nations culture and hoped the fans would get behind the initiatives.
“They’re fantastic artworks and artists,” she said.
“We’re doing this to keep educating people about Aboriginal culture and how we could integrate it into the things we do in a sports environment and be authentic about that.
“While we don’t visually have a lot of Aboriginal players at the elite level, we’ve got an incredibly growing number of Aboriginal youth playing, and our Aboriginal participation numbers are growing.”