Cricket Australia (CA) announced that the national men’s team, which recently traveled to Sri Lanka for a full tour, will donate their entire prize money to the country's aid, which is dealing with its worst economic crisis.
Australia won the T20Is 2-1 during their tour of Sri Lanka, but the hosts bounced back to win the ODIs 3-2, and the two-match Test series ended in a 1-1 draw.
Cricket Australia announced on Twitter that the donation will be made through UNICEF Australia to help the children and families affected due to the crisis.
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“Our Aussie men have donated their prize money from the recent tour of Sri Lanka to support children and families impacted by the nation's worst economic crisis in decades. The donation will go towards @unicefaustralia's programs to support nutrition, healthcare, safe drinking water, education and mental health services,” CA tweeted.
Sharing his thoughts on his team's gesture to donate the prize money, Pat Cummins, who is the brand ambassador of UNICEF Australia, mentioned that the decision to donate the money was an easy one as they had seen the crisis on a first-hand basis.
He said on cricket.com.au: "It was very clear to us how much day-to-day life for Sri Lankans is being impacted. When the team saw what was happening it was an easy decision to donate our prize money to UNICEF, who have been in Sri Lanka for more than 50 years supporting the needs of children and families."
This is not the first time Australia has lent monetary support for a cause above the sport. Cummins and Cricket Australia had earlier donated $50,000 for oxygen supplies to India, to help its fight against a raging COVID-19 wave in 2021, which also resulted in the suspension of the Indian Premier League midway.
