Julie Owens (Parramatta, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Small Business) Share this | Hansard source

Last Wednesday a very special cricket team called Ocean 12 took out the Australian championships on the Gold Coast in the Last Man Stands 2020 cricket competition. Last Man Stands is an international, semiprofessional 2020 competition with about 90,000 players worldwide. There are over 50 teams in Parramatta alone and about 300 teams throughout Sydney, so Ocean 12 won in Parramatta, then beat the other winners in Sydney, then went to the Gold Coast and played 31 other teams for the national final.

Ocean 12, the new Australian champions, have not lost a game in 12 months, and all the players are Tamil refugees. The name of the team is a nod to the year most of them arrived and the fact that they came by boat. The men played their first cricket in Australia while in detention. After being released into the community, Noelene Nagle at the Blue Mountains Refugee Support Group had the brilliant idea of creating a team. It was Justin Isaacs, President of the Wenty Leagues Cricket Club, who gave the men the opportunity to play in the Last Man Stands competition. Their journey was supported by members of the community who donated equipment.

Apparently, they tell me, they were pretty hopeless when they started out. I find that hard to believe. But they learned to trust each other and support each other and they became well and truly unbeatable. The experience has helped them to meet Australians and to learn English. It has helped them to take their minds off the trauma they have experienced, their families far away and their uncertain visa situation.

Ocean 12 has been invited to represent Australia in the world championships in Cape Town in 2017. Unfortunately, because the men are still on bridging visas, they do not have the right to travel and will be unable to attend.

I would like to congratulate the captain, Suthakar; Donald; Ratnavadivel; Sutharsan; Prasanthkumar; Jegathees; Chanthuru; Purusothaman, who was player of the tournament; Satheesh, who was player of the final; and Sivarasa, the team manager. Congratulations to all of you in Ocean 12 for your wonderful work and for overcoming all you have been through to become the Australian champions.

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