Crowds flood onto the SGC following Australia’s win against India on day three, the final day, of the test. Photo: Andrew McDonald.
The Matildas’ incredible run to the semi-finals of the World Cup in 2023 generated interest in a sport that we have rarely witnessed in this country.
It resulted in more young girls and boys than ever wanting to play football.
A similar sports tsunami could be heading our way in the wake of the phenomenal interest in the Australia-India test series and huge support for the Big Bash.
Is Canberra capable of further capitalising on the popularity of cricket, particularly when facilities across the ACT are already stretched?
With this question in mind, it’s worth noting that bidding is taking place to secure a team in Australia’s first-class men’s cricket competition and a Big Bash franchise. We continue to play a waiting game.
Canberra has demonstrated its support for high-level cricket with capacity crowds for the Big Bash and any international game that comes to Manuka.
If there is anything to worry about for the ACT, it is not the lack of support for the sport but the struggle to find a permanent place in Australian cricket.
At the moment, the Sydney Thunder have Canberra as an extension of their Sydney base for Big Bash games.
But once again, we are at the beck and call of the Thunder franchise.
Despite a commitment to Canberra, if the Thunder decided to play all of their games at the Sydney Showground, it would leave the ACT without any games.
It is obvious we need our own franchise to guarantee regular games.
It is the same with the push for a domestic men’s first-class team to play alongside the ACT Meteors in the women’s league.
The PM’s XI fixture has had an unsettled feel for a number of years as the format appears to be changing constantly at the behest of the touring team.
In 2024, it was a day-night fixture to allow the touring Indian team time under lights with the pink ball ahead of the Adelaide test.
This year, with an Ashes series, Cricket Australia will no doubt be looking for space between tests to play the PM’s XI game.
Will it slot in between the first test in Perth, which finishes on 25 November, and the second test at the Gabba, which is a day-night fixture starting 4 December?
Once again, it could be used by the touring team from England to have time under lights with the pink ball ahead of the Gabba test, or will the English team feel as though they need a longer rest between tests? Alternatively, will the team use the PMs XI game as a warmup for the start of the test series, as was the case when England toured New Zealand last year?
Like the Big Bash, the ACT’s cricket content, including the PM’s XI, is controlled by others, and given the crowded demands on the international cricket calendar, it might never change.
Hopefully, we will have greater control over Canberra’s cricketing future. A Big Bash franchise and a team in the Sheffield Shield would be a great start.
Loading ...
