The PM’s XI is always a great event for cricket fans. Photo: Cricket ACT.
The PM’s XI game has been searching for an identity with considerable changes to the format over the past seven years.
It has gone from a festival-style one-day game to a T20 to a four-day game, and now against India on 30 November to 1 December, it will be a two-day match under lights with a pink ball.
It has also moved from the tradition of a mid-week fixture to a two-day game over Saturday and Sunday.
The changing nature of the PM’s game is reflective of the tight international cricket calendar, with more games than ever as tests and one-dayers battle for relevance against a tsunami of T20 competitions.
Attempting to pitch-fork a festival-type game into the middle of a crowded schedule has never been more difficult and has the potential to wipe out the PM’s XI. There is also the contest for the hearts and minds of cricket followers in Canberra with the emergence of Big Bash.
Thankfully, this season, the touring Indian team has requested a warmup game under lights using the pink ball ahead of the day-night test in Adelaide, which gets underway on 6 December.
The request should come as no surprise, given India’s limited exposure to the pink ball in comparison to Australia. Australia has played 11 games with the pink ball under lights compared to India’s five.
India’s inexperience in this format was exposed the last time they played in the pink ball test in Adelaide in 2020.
The visitors were bowled out in their second innings for just 36, their lowest score ever in test cricket as Cummins and Hazelwood tore through the Indian lineup with no batsmen getting into double figures.
To put it simply, India desperately needed a warmup game under lights with the pink ball.
To the rescue comes Manuka Oval with the perfect venue to prepare for the second test against a PM’s side brimming with youth keen to prove themselves against a world cricket powerhouse.
Given India’s limited exposure to the format, the chances are the touring team will roll out some of their biggest names to gain valuable experience with the memory of 2020 fresh enough to cause concern.
It also has the potential to be a massive crowd-puller, with the Indian players commanding major celebrity status. As such, fans turn out en masse, creating an incredible atmosphere.
Canberra appears to be the winner this time around; whether they can pull it off next year remains at the mercy of the schedule.
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