"Under The Southern Cross I Stand" is the victory song of the

Australian cricket team The Australia men's national cricket team represents Australia in men's international cricket. As the joint oldest team in Test cricket history, playing in the first ever Test match in 1877, the team also plays One-Day International (ODI) an ...

. It is typically sung by the players in the style of a raucous chant after every victory and "treated with reverential consideration and respect" within the team. The official lyrics are as follows. :''Under the Southern Cross I stand,'' :''A sprig of wattle in my hand,'' :''A native of my native land,'' :''Australia, you fucking beauty!'' The authorship of this "Under the Southern Cross I Stand" is credited to former wicketkeeper

Rod Marsh Rodney William Marsh (4 November 1947 – 4 March 2022) was an Australian professional cricketer who played as a wicketkeeper for the Australian national team. Marsh had a Test career spanning from the 1970–71 to the 1983–84 Australian ...

, who was apparently inspired by Henry Lawson's 1887 poem, " Flag of the Southern Cross". Marsh initially had the role of leading the team in singing it, and on his retirement he passed it on to Allan Border. The other players to have taken on the role are David Boon (when Border took over the captaincy),

Ian Healy Ian Andrew Healy (born 30 April 1964) is an Australian former international cricketer who played for Queensland domestically. A specialist wicketkeeper and useful right-hand middle-order batsman, he made an unheralded entry to international c ...

(on Boon's retirement),

Ricky Ponting Ricky Thomas Ponting (born 19 December 1974) is an Australian cricket coach, commentator, and former cricketer. Ponting was captain of the Australian national team during its "golden era", between 2004 and 2011 in Test cricket and 2002 and 20 ...

(on Healy's retirement),

Justin Langer Justin Lee Langer (21 November 1970) is an Australian cricket coach and former cricketer. He is the former coach of the Australia men's national team, having been appointed to the role in May 2018 and leaving in February 2022. A left-handed ba ...

(when Ponting took over the captaincy), and

Michael Hussey Michael Edward Killeen Hussey (born 27 May 1975) is an Australian cricket coach, commentator and former international cricketer, who played all forms of the game. Hussey is also widely known by his nickname 'Mr Cricket'. Hussey was a relative la ...

(on Langer's retirement). Hussey passed it on to Nathan Lyon upon his retirement in January 2013. With Nathan Lyon's departure from the team due to injury after the Second Ashes Test at

Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and ...

in 2023, custody of the song has passed to wicketkeeper Alex Carey. The song is based upon the chorus of the 1890s patriotic song “Australia; or Heart to Heart and Hand to Hand”, written by the Rev. Thomas Hilhouse Taylor (1861-1925). One source says that "The evidence suggests that this cricketers’ chant began as a patriotic song in the late 1890s, was turned into a military drinking song in the 1940s, and then finally developed into the victory song of the Australian cricket team in the 1970s. From such beginnings has this raucous verse become popular with cricket fans in general, and with Australians in particular."Under the Southern Cross I Stand [the Australian cricket team’s victory song
/nowiki>">he Australian cricket team’s victory song">Under the Southern Cross I Stand [the Australian cricket team’s victory song
/nowiki> The Institute of Australian Culture

References

{{reflist Cricket music Australian patriotic songs Sports culture in Australia

See also

References