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Cricket is Australia's national game.
But traditionally it hasn't been a game for all Australians.
Only one Aboriginal man, Jason Gillespie, has played Test cricket, but measures are being put in place to make sure he's not the last.
An increased investment from the West Australian Cricket Association (WACA) has seen the number of Indigenous cricketers in the state jump by more than a third.
Dane Ugle is one of the new generation.
"I have really got a passion for my land and where I came from, the Balardong Wadjuk mob," he said.
"To be one of the first Balardong Wadjuk Nyoongar to play for this state is something that I am very proud of."
In WA, Aboriginal participation in cricket has risen more than 38 per cent in the last two years.
It is off the back of several new initiatives, including employing West Australian football great Larry Kickett as the WACA's Aboriginal programs coordinator.
"We might not see a result from this for a few years, but we are putting in the platform now, laid the foundations. I think we will certainly see some results," Kickett said.
"Because of the role models you had in football, it attracted [Aboriginal] people to play football, so we need to do that in cricket.
"And I think we are certainly getting more role models, so young kids can look up to them at the next level."
Former Australian coach Geoff Marsh has also played a significant role.
Marsh and Ugle both hail from Pingelly, a small town in WA's Wheatbelt region with a population of just over 1,000 people.
With his vast amount of experience at the top level, Marsh has now become a mentor for Ugle.
"He [Marsh] has been fantastic," Ugle said.
"Not only on the field, but off the field as well, someone there that If you really want some advice and that, he is there in a whip."
As well as a sharing a home town, they also share a common goal — to have more Indigenous Australians wear the baggy green.
"If we put a bit more time into the younger kids and develop their skill in cricket, then we might see that talent out there playing for Australia one day," Marsh said.
"Dane is certainly one that has got the talent."
Tom Wills, the founder of AFL football, took an all Indigenous cricket team on a tour of England in 1868, when they played against amateur teams.
It was the first Australian cricket side to travel overseas.
The players also performed a range of "traditional" sports, and displayed skills such as boomerang and spear throwing.
But just four Aboriginal people have represented Australia at the elite level.
Gillespie, all-rounder Dan Christian, and female cricketers Faith Thomas and Ashleigh Gardner.
Kickett believes Twenty-20 cricket could be the key to adding more names to that list.
"It is in a short time frame. It is exciting," he said.
"And I think that is what a lot of Aboriginal people will get involved with and that is what we are trying to do with our programs here at the WACA."
Topics: cricket, sport, indigenous-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander, perth-6000, wa
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