Prime Minister’s XI match returns to Canberra after three-year hiatus

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been tasked with an important role ahead of the summer cricket season.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images

The Prime Minister’s XI match will return to Canberra this summer after a three-year hiatus, with an Australian team selected by Anthony Albanese scheduled to face the West Indies in late November.

For the first time since the fixture’s inauguration in 1951, the Prime Minister’s XI match will be a pink-ball contest under lights, with the four-day match commencing on Wednesday, 23 November at Manuka Oval.

Albanese and national selector George Bailey will choose a squad in the coming weeks, with national men’s assistant coach Andre Borovec named as the team mentor.

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“I am delighted to confirm the return of the Prime Minister’s XI this summer, an Australian tradition that spans 70 years,” Albanese said in a statement.

“Along with Cricket Australia, I am very excited to be welcoming the West Indies. I grew up loving watching Viv Richards, Malcolm Marshall and Joel Garner, so I’m thrilled my first PM’s XI as Prime Minister will be against the current West Indies stars here in Canberra.

“In the coming weeks, I will meet with the national selectors to discuss what I suspect will be a very strong PM’s XI.”

Albanese will become the 10th Prime Minister to host a PM‘s XI side, the most recent being Scott Morrison in 2019, who ran drinks for the team at Manuka Oval three years ago.

Speaking to reporters in Canberra on Friday morning, Borovec extended an invite to Albanese to run drinks for the Prime Minister’s XI next month.

“We’re looking forward to having him (Albanese) in and around the team,” Borovec said.

“I think it’s going to be a great experience for the players to experience this fixture because of the history involved.

“Anthony is more than welcome to even throw some balls if he wants to.”

Scott Morrison holds the trophy with Prime Minister’s XI co-captains Dan Christian and Peter Siddle in October 2019. Photo by Tracey Nearmy/Getty Images

The Prime Minister’s XI will serve as a warm-up fixture for the West Indies ahead of their two-Test series against Australia, which includes a pink-ball match at Adelaide Oval in December.

The West Indies have a relatively weak batting line-up on paper, but their talented pace bowlers could prove dangerous with the swinging pink Kookaburra.

Borovec didn’t speculate on who would be selected in the Prime Minister’s XI, but Test hopefuls Henry Hunt, Will Pucovski and Teague Wyllie are among the leading candidates.

“It’s always been an important part of the Australian summer, in this case leading into the Test summer,” Borovec said.

“The players see it as being a stepping stone in their ability to play against international teams and be exposed in that way.

“The pink ball nature of this game gives it some uniqueness that requires different skills at different times of the game. Above all, it’s opportunity and information gathering for the selectors and coaches alike.”

According to The Daily Telegraph, Cricket Australia is considering resuscitating plans to make the Prime Minister’s XI an all-ingenious team in the future.

As reported by ESPNcricinfo, the Morrison Government pushed back against the idea when it was floated in 2019.

After CA decided to scrap any references to “Australia Day” for Big Bash Leagues matches on January 26, Morrison famously told the organisation to “focus on cricket, and a little less focus on politics”.