Season 9, Ep 18: "How you wanna raise a flag with a rifle / To make us want to celebrate anything but survival?" So goes the A.B. Originals song January 26. This year Cricket Australia stopped using the term 'Australia Day' to promote matches, recognising that it's a day of mourning for a lot of Indigenous people. Predictably this small gesture was criticised by political antagonists. On the date in question, Munanjahli writer Dr Chelsea Watego joins us to talk about commemoration versus celebration, the complexity of history, and what progress might actually look like beyond platitudes.

Also this week, Sri Lanka's series against England wraps up, South Africa head to Pakistan for the first time in 13 years, and the World Test Championship possibilities become slightly more clear.

Your Nerd Pledge numbers:
2.24 – Peter Halton
1.68 – Jesse G
1.22 – James Ralston

Send us a Nerd Pledge at patreon.com/thefinalword 
Find previous episodes at  finalwordcricket.com 

Pick up The Golden Summer with a £3 discount with the code GOLDTFW 
Or get a discount Wisden Cricket Monthly subscription at bit.ly/wcmtfw

Check out CBUS Super at   https://www.cbussuper.com.au/thefinalword  
Get Geoff’s new book, The Comeback Summer 

The Final Word is part of the  Bad Producer Podcast Network 
Title track by  Urthboy 

Support the show: https://patreon.com/thefinalword

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices