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Come Wednesday, Australian cricket will pay tribute to its first ever touring cricket team, the 1868 Indigenous team that made the long journey to England to sow the seeds for what later became cricket's greatest rivalry.

The team arrived in England 141 years ago to start the marathon tour, taking in 47 matches and blazing a trail for all those that came afterwards. That team is now widely acknowledged as the first sporting team to compete under the national Australian banner.

The 1868 team set sail from Sydney on 8 February (1868), arriving in England on 13 May. It played 47 matches between May and October, winning 14 games, losing 14 and drawing 19.

All-rounder Johnny Mullagh (real name Unaarrimin) was the acknowledged champion of the team, scoring 1698 runs and taking 245 wickets on the tour.

In 2002 the team was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fa me. In 2004, individual player numbers were allocated to the touring party as formal recognition of their place in Australian cricket history in a ceremony during the 3 mobile Boxing Day Test.

The 141st anniversary takes on extra significance as June will see the National Indigenous Development squad leave Australian shores for a four-week tour of England, a tour that will in part honour the 1868 legacy.

While the primary focus of this tour is to develop talented young Indigenous cricketers, captain of the squad, South Australian Redbacks all-rounder Dan Christian, also sees it as a fitting acknowledgement of the heroic deeds of 1868.

"It's hard to imagine what is was like to tour 141 years ago, three months on a boat for a start would have been hard enough for those guys," Christian said.

"The upcoming tour is a great opportunity for all players in the touring squad to raise the awareness of cricket in the Indigenous community."

"As we've seen through other sports, Indigenous people are some of the most talented sportspeople in the country and it's only a matter of time until some of this squad make their mark in first class cricket. This will give kids in the Indigenous community more role models to look up to."

The members of that special team were: Peter, Sundown, Tiger, King Cole, Red Cap, Red Cap, Charles Lawrence, Mosquito, Two Penny, Dick-a-Dick, Dick-a-Dick, Charles Dumas, Johnny Mullagh, Johnny Cuzens

Yes, these were the European names they took while on the tour, their real names were barely pronouncable by their opponents - Arrahmunyarrimun (Peter) and Arrahmunyarrimun (Sundown).