Three First Nations cricketers will represent Big Bash League (BBL) clubs in the 12th instalment of the tournament, which began this week.
BBL journeyman Dan Christian will again suit up for his hometown Sidney Sixers for a third consecutive season.
The Wiradjuri allrounder is the BBL's current match record holder (122 matches), having played in all 12 BBL seasons firstly for the Brisbane Heat, followed by stints at the Hobart Hurricanes and Melbourne Renegades before returning to his home state of New South Wales to don the magnets for the Sydney Sixers.
In addition to his 12 seasons of BBL, Christian brings an unparalleled amount of franchise T20 experience to the Sixers' lineup, with his globetrotting escapades over many years seeing him play a mammoth 394 T20 matches in tournaments including the Caribbean Premier League, Indian Premier League and in the UK's T20 Blast competition.
Possessing a career T20 batting average of 23.18 striking at 138.26 combined with a bowling average of 29.09 at an economy rate of 8.45, Christian will be more than handy with the bat in the Sixers' middle order whilst also giving captain Moises Henriques an additional seam option.
His clean-hitting at the crease, wicket taking ability and variation with the ball all whilst being sharp in the field, even at the age of 39 makes Christian broadly considered the complete package when it comes to modern T20 allrounders.
The Sydney Thunder will again have the fast bowling services of Worimi speedster Brendan Doggett during BBL|12.
Entering his fourth BBL season with the Thunder, Doggett will be looking to capitalise on his early-season form in Sheffield Shield cricket which has seen him effect 11 dismissals across four matches, including seven wickets against Tasmania in his most recent outing for the South Australian Redbacks.
In 30 BBL appearances across two seasons with the Brisbane Heat followed by three at the Thunder, Doggett's T20 career is still in its early stages.
In his five BBL seasons he averages a respectable 26.23 with the ball, at an economy of 8.40.
Regularly clocked above 140 kilometres per hour, expect new Sydney Thunder captain Jason Sangha to utilise Doggett's raw pace and low strike rate (18.7) to test opposition batters with the new ball.
Former Player of the Tournament D'Arcy Short will enter his seventh BBL campaign for the Hobart Hurricanes.
The Mitakoodi top order batter has been a star of the competition in previous seasons and is widely regarded as one of Australian domestic cricket's premier ball strikers.
His career BBL average of 39.96 ranks him fourth all-time and second only to Shaun Marsh (39.96) by current players, however it is Short's high strike rate (133.66) which has made him especially damaging for the Hurricanes across his 72 career matches.
After amassing 345 runs during BBL|11, Short will be looking for a return to the form which saw him recognised as the Big Bash Leagues best with the stick only a few seasons ago, where he struck 578 runs, including a 69 ball 122* against the Brisbane Heat.
He will also be handy with the ball for the the Hurricanes, with captain Matthew Wade likely to utilise Short's left arm leg-spin throughout BBL|12, variation that has collected him 59 wickets across 136 career T20 matches.
Christian, Doggett and Short represent a small number of cricketers of Aboriginal heritage that have reached elite-level cricket in Australia.
The trio have all represented the Australia's Indigenous cricket team in multiple tournaments and tours, with Christian first captaining Cricket Australia's National Indigenous Development Squad in 2009.
He also captained the Australian Aboriginal XI on their 2018 tour of England, a team which included both Doggett and Short alongside current test cult hero, Scott Boland.
