18 January 2015

The PMs 11 – An under celebrated top day out! Did you go?

| JordanHartas
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On Wednesday I went to the PMs 11 for the first time in two years and just so I can get this one away for a quick single, did 2015 seem a bit quieter than other years? Was it the absence of Hussy (a late scratching) or fear of Canberra’s current monsoonal weather? Maybe it was just me, but it did however make for the most efficient service of mid-strength I’ve had in living memory and much more picnic blanket real-estate for me and my mates to sprawl over. By 4pm, in front of some 8000 loyalists, what was building to be an absolute flogging was well underway as England’s Ian Bell plied the turf with runs which would ultimately contribute 187 to the Pom’s impressive 391. If you were sitting there like I was thinking ‘well this could be embarrassing’ perhaps just for a moment we’d forgotten that this was still an all-star cast alongside some spirited debutants wanting to give mother England a bloody good serve, even a friendly one, after all.

But it’s always a great day out at the PMs 11! Our dear leader himself was there to flip the coin with newly crowned captain of Team Australia Chris Rogers (not a bad fill-in in place of Hussey let’s be honest), not soon after England’s opener Ali lost his grip and sent his bat sailing down to square leg and my absolute favourite of the day: Papua New Guinean pocket rocket Lega Siaka was darting, diving, spinning –even taking a cracker of a catch at the Kingo end. What a legend!

But before the 11 had their turn with the bat (to chase down almost 400 runs!) it should be noted that Canberra local Behrendorff took a respectable 4/79 against a polished visiting squad, with English captain Morgan and Joe Root also going cheaply thanks to David Moody and Glenn Maxwell.

But the best part of the day for Aussie fans was still to come, enter Glenn Maxwell aka the Big Show! With about 30 runs on the ledger and Chris Rogers departing at the 2/50 mark, the Big Show let rip into the stands with no mercy. Sixes, fours, more sixes! The blood thirsty crowd sent echoing roars into Canberra’s inner-south suburbs and all of a sudden a comeback was underway.

It was underway alright, unfortunately a little too late, exciting contributions from Doran (37), Siaka (27 from 15 – seriously can this guy come back next year?!) and Cummins (27) ensured the experience was one fought hard right to the end but alas alas this time the love-to-hate-them Pom’s were all too good.

That was my day out at the PM’s 11. Did you go? What do you reckon of the annual fixture? Reckon one more marquis player could’ve turned the tide for the Aussies? I just hope the fixture returns bigger and better in 2016. Cheers.

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I think the PM XI suffered a bit this year due to the amount of cricket we have had in the territory. ODI in November, Big Bash Final coming up which I believe is sold out and the Cricket world cup, plus the Asian Cup football all; means the PM XI which was once the highlight of the Canberra summer has dropped down the pecking order.

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