Under the Southern Cross I Stand

The team song is ‘Under the Southern Cross I Stand’, which is sung by the players after every victory and ”treated with reverential consideration and respect” within the team. The official lyrics are as follows, though when it is sung by the players, the word ’little’ in the last line is instead replaced by ’bloody’ or an expletive.

Under the Southern Cross I Stand

A sprig of wattle in my hand,

A native of my native land,

Australia you little beauty.

The authorship of this ’Under the Southern Cross I Stand’ is credited to former wicketkeeper Rod Marsh, 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, 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 (on Boon's retirement), Ricky Ponting (on Healy's retirement), Justin Langer (when Ponting took over the captaincy). The role was then passed on to Michael Hussey, who took it on when Langer retired in January 2007. Following Hussey's retirement on 6 January 2013, he announced that he would be handing the duties over to Nathan Lyon.