Former County cricketer and New South Wales men's Indigenous team coach, Jeff Cook is proud to see selection decisions getting tougher to field mob representative cricket sides.
On Wednesday, men's and women's Indigenous sides will set foot on the MCG to face MCC XI outfits after being picked after strong showings at the National Indigenous Cricket Championships, with some travelling to Vanuatu for matches earlier this year.
The game is part of a larger camp, including training at elite facilities, skill development and cultural activities.
In over a century of international cricket, First Nations Australians to have completed at the level are slim in numbers.
After an Indigenous side toured to England in 1868, 20 years before Australia and England birthed the Ashes in the first ever Test cricket match, the late pioneer Faith Thomas and Jason Gillespie were the only mob to pull on baggy green caps until recent years.
Current First Nations stars Ash Gardner, Scott Boland and D'Arcy Short are leading the way at international level, with a number of Indigenous cricketers following suit in first class and white ball professional cricket at the domestic level.
Cook, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander training camp men's team coach, told National Indigenous Times the future is shaping towards more representation.
"If you would have asked me the same question eight years ago, our depth wasn't very strong," he said.
"I think the interest is getting there because we've got role models... the players they can identify themselves as 'I want to be the next'.
"It's tough competition. I've got to fit 14 players into 11. There's good players we've left out of this one. Our senior men's squad is an exceptional cricket team. And just seeing the depth here with the girls as well, you were in pretty good stead.
"If someone would have said to me 10 years ago we're going to be playing on the MCG against the MCC foundation side I would have laughed, but here we are."
The prospect of strolling onto the home of cricket is dream for most young players - no less Taungurung bowler, men's side captain and exciting Victorian prospect Bailey Toseland.
Toseland's only previous experience in the middle at the 'G came as an Auskicker with footy in hand at half time of AFL matches.
Wednesday's a little different.
"It's not just about performing and being able to play well, but it's also about building relationships… and being able to hold that friendship. I think that's kind of the main point of difference when it comes to playing this sort of cricket," Toseland told National Indigenous Times.
He said while playing for Australia is the ultimate goal, getting out there in the middle on Wednesday is a "dream" it itself.
Women's team coach and Queensland Indigenous cricket stalwart Ahsley Renouf said there's a "100 per cent" chance members of his young squad are on the road to professional cricket.
"There will be a Women's National Cricket League or WBBL player out of this mob in probably the next five years," Renouf said on Tuesday.
His team fields a younger 11, a promising sign for future generations and the top level and pathways underneath.
For a chance to play on the 'G, possibly under lights with gloomy conditions, Renouf said "they're chomping at the bit".
"They all just had a really good session downstairs laughing and having a good hit. But when they wanted to learn something, they took it on board. And hopefully tomorrow they actually get to show their skills off and have a bit of fun whilst doing it," he said.
