澳大利亚板球运动员Ron Gaunt在1958年1月于南非德班进行了职业生涯的首场测试赛，取得2-87的成绩。[1]但这位运动员真正的历史意义直到最近才被揭示——DNA检测证实他可能是澳大利亚首位具有原住民血统的测试板球运动员。[1]据信，Gaunt的祖母Matilda Cowan是1872年John Walkinshaw Cowan与一位未具名的原住民女性的后代。[1]
Gaunt的家族为了躲避当时的白澳政策和种族歧视，对其原住民身份保密了数十年。[1]家族从第一次世界大战时期开始隐瞒真实血统，声称具有毛利人血统以换取£100的返乡服役感谢金。[1]1927年，西澳大利亚引入了严格政策，禁止原住民进入珀斯市中心及周边地区的"禁区"，该禁令直到1954年才被撤销。[1]直到2020年COVID-19期间，Gaunt的家族才通过家族史研究和DNA检测发现这一被隐瞒的遗产。[1]Gaunt于2012年去世。[1]
此前，Jason Gillespie在1996年被认为是澳大利亚首位原住民血统的测试板球运动员，但Gaunt的首秀早他38年。[1]除了作为运动员的身份外，Gaunt还曾在Footscray板球俱乐部担任教练，指导过包括Merv Hughes在内的未来澳大利亚测试板球运动员。[1]
Ron Gaunt, who made his Test cricket debut for Australia in January 1958 in Durban, South Africa, with a bowling performance of 2-87, is now recognized as possibly Australia's first Indigenous Test cricketer—a distinction that remained concealed for over six decades due to his family's deliberate efforts to hide their Aboriginal heritage.[1] Gaunt's family had obscured his Indigenous identity to escape the White Australia Policy and racial persecution of the era, a secret that was not uncovered until 2020 when relatives conducted genealogical research and DNA testing during the COVID-19 pandemic.[1]
The family's concealment began in the World War I period, when they falsely claimed Maori ancestry to secure a £100 repatriation gratitude payment for military service.[1] Gaunt's grandmother, Matilda Cowan, was descended from John Walkinshaw Cowan and an unnamed Indigenous woman in 1872.[1] The environment that prompted such secrecy was reinforced by discriminatory policies, including Western Australia's 1927 prohibition that barred Aboriginal people from Perth's city center and surrounding areas—restrictions that were not lifted until 1954.[1] Gaunt, who passed away in 2012, preceded Jason Gillespie, traditionally recognized as Australia's first Indigenous Test cricketer in 1996, by 38 years.[1] Beyond his playing career, Gaunt served as a coach at the Footscray cricket club, where he mentored future Australian Test players including Merv Hughes.[1]