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
HMS Bounty on volunteer crew. On 29 October 2012, sixteen "Bounty" crew-members abandoned ship off the coast of North Carolina after getting caught in the high seas brought on by Hurricane Sandy. The ship sank, according to Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, at 12:45 UTC Monday 29 October 2012, and two crew members, including Captain Robin Walbridge, were reported as missing. The Captain was not found and presumed dead on 2 November 2012. It was later reported that the Coast Guard had recovered one of the missing crew members, Claudene Christian, descendant of Fletcher Christian of the original HMS "Bounty". Ms.