Today marks the celebration of both Australia Day and Pat Cash

MELBOURNE—Today is January 26, which Down Under means it’s Australia Day—the day in 1788 when British ships arrived at Port Jackson, New South Wales and raised the flag of Great Britain. This is Australia’s version of the American July 4th, complete with fireworks and celebrations.

But for many in this nation, including Australian tennis legend Pat Cash, honored today at the Legends Lunch that’s held annually in Melbourne, there’s a native history that precedes the British. Cash in recent years has become an outspoken advocate on behalf of this country’s indigenous men and women—people who have lived in Australia not just for hundreds, but tens of thousands of years. Children’s Ground is one of five charities Cash gives his time to.

So it was fitting that the lunch opened with words from Aunty Joy Murphy, an indigenous Australian who is also a prominent speaker and author of the book “Welcome to Country.” Murphy spoke eloquently as she celebrated Cash and his meaning to this country. She also admitted how she’d long adored Cash, calling him the “best-looking hunk.”

Hosted by Hall of Famer Todd Woodbridge, the perpetual lure of this event has less to do with the single person being celebrated and more a matter of the communal qualities of the Australian tennis culture—the long river that flows back more than a century and, so powerfully, the way this country’s champions naturally acknowledge those who’ve come before and those who follow.

The room was dotted with legends that spanned 70 years of greatness. There were Aussie Hall of Famers such as Frank Sedgman, Ken Rosewall, Roy Emerson, Rod Laver, Patrick Rafter and Mark Woodforde. Other Hall of Famers in the room included Ivan Lendl, Mats Wilander and a pair of Tennis Channel mates, Lindsay Davenport and Martina Navratilova.

In time, the spotlight turned to Cash, joined on a panel by peers Wally Masur, John Fitzgerald, Darren Cahill and Mats Wilander.

Said Masur, “We’d all get better together.”

While Cash certainly had his roguish qualities, what he was most cherished for was his ability to play his best tennis on high-stakes occasions. Twice, in 1983 and ’86, he clinched the Davis Cup championship for Australia. Wilander, who first met Cash in Italy when he was 14, believes that Cash’s success in Davis Cup helped propel the Australian Open.

“Swedes came here and painted their faces,” said Wilander, “and in time Aussie fans got into it. Pat was inspiring.”

“Those are moments you live for,” said Cash, “to play Davis Cup, to try and win your national championship.”

On the latter front, though, Cash came up painfully short, in ’87 and ’88 losing five-set finals, the first to Stefan Edberg, the second to Wilander. The one to Wilander took place on January 26, 1988—the bicentennial of Australia Day. That evening after it was over, Wilander and Cash happened to bump into another at a local pub. True to the Aussie spirit of competition and camaraderie, Wilander bought drinks for his mate.

And then there was another supreme Pat Cash effort: his 1987 run to the Wimbledon title.

Said Woodbridge, “Let’s relive that moment.”

A voice came from the crowd: “Do we have to?”

It was Ivan Lendl, Cash’s opponent in the finals. There came the video. A clipped forehand volley into the open court—for these sturdy Australians, business as usual. Business as unusual was Cash running into the stands to celebrate alongside his lifelong coach, Ian Barclay, and his family.

Said Cash, “It was important for me to share the moment with the team.”

That collaborative spirit continues to this day.

“Without my mates,” said Cash, “I could never have gotten over the finish line.”

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