Cricket ACT will bid to host at least one game of the 2015 World Cup, but its immediate focus is on bringing the Australian team to Canberra for next year's centenary celebrations.
An international fixture involving Australia has never been held in the national capital, with the annual Prime Minster's XI match against a touring side the closest Canberra fans have come to seeing this country's premier cricketers in the flesh.
While it is highly unlikely Australia would be involved in a World Cup match at Manuka Oval, Cricket ACT chief executive Mark Vergano was optimistic a 50-over or Twenty20 international would be held in Canberra next year.
''A Test match is going to be difficult, it's more likely it'd be a set of one-dayers or a set of T20s,'' he said.
''The main focus is to get the Australian team in Canberra for the centenary because we've never actually hosted the Australian team.
''In any of its forms, it'd be a celebration to get the Australian team to play an international in Canberra.''
Cricket Australia officials held informal talks with the ACT Government about having Canberra involved in the World Cup during the Chairman's XI v India match last month.
Australia and New Zealand will jointly host the game's showpiece event, the second time the two countries have shared the tournament.
Canberra was one of the host cities for the 1992 World Cup as South Africa, in its first major tournament since readmission, defeated Zimbabwe by seven wickets.
The decision to retain four associate nations in the 14-team format will work in Canberra's favour, as will increasing ground capacity to 18,000 and installing lights to allow for more flexible broadcast schedules.
''The expansion where they changed to go from 10 to 14 teams certainly brought us back into the reckoning,'' Vergano said.
''We haven't had any formal discussions [with Cricket Australia] ... but it's very much in our own planning. I'd suspect we'd learn more at the CEOs conference coming up in March.''
A CA spokesman said scheduling for the World Cup was still in the early stages, but that the Local Organising Committee was committed to spreading games among regional areas.
''Details haven't yet been decided,'' the spokesman said. ''Cricket Australia, Cricket New Zealand and the two governments need to work out those details before they can do the scheduling. The objective of the LOC is they want to give all parts of Australia and New Zealand a taste of the World Cup.''
Test wicketkeeper Brad Haddin will lead the Prime Minster's XI against Sri Lanka on Friday to round off the city's largest helping of top-class cricket.
Indian maestro Sachin Tendulkar put on a batting masterclass during the first of two practice matches against a Chairman's XI in December, while the second game featured the new Test opening partnership of Dave Warner and Ed Cowan for the first time. There has also been a Sheffield Shield and a one-day match between NSW and Tasmania.
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