Cricket in Norfolk Island Cricket in Norfolk Island Cricket is recorded as having been played on Norfolk Island, an external territory of Australia, as early as 1838, by soldiers stationed on the island. It continued to be played after the island was settled in 1856 by Pitcairn Islanders, descended from the mutineers of the "Bounty" and of mixed European and Polynesian stock. John Patteson, an ex-first-class cricketer and future Bishop of Melanesia, was a missionary on Norfolk during that period. From 1876 until well into the 20th century, a match was played annually on Bounty Day, the national holiday, a tradition that was resumed
Mutiny on the Bounty in 1814, but was not offered further naval appointments. He died, aged 63, in December 1817. Of the pardoned mutineers, Heywood and Morrison returned to naval duty. Heywood acquired the patronage of Hood and, by 1803 at the age of 31, had achieved the rank of captain. After a distinguished career, he died in 1831. Morrison became a master gunner, and was eventually lost in 1807 when HMS "Blenheim" foundered in the Indian Ocean. Muspratt is believed to have worked as a naval steward before his death, in or before 1798. The other principal participants in the court martial—Fryer, Peckover,