Australian cricket legend Michael Hussey will captain the Prime Minister's XI against England at Manuka Oval in January in a major boost to the traditional Canberra fixture.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Fairfax Media has learnt "Mr Cricket" will be unveiled as skipper by Prime Minister Tony Abbott on Thursday, following in the footsteps of fellow former Test stars including Ricky Ponting, Matthew Hayden and Brett Lee.
The announcement is a significant coup for the January 14 clash, wedged between two Asian Cup soccer matches at Canberra Stadium, and adds to a bumper Canberra cricket schedule that includes three World Cup games, Wednesday's Australia-South Africa one day international and the Big Bash League final.
Hussey retired from the international game with 19 Test centuries to his name almost two years ago, but was outstanding for an underperforming Sydney Thunder in last year's Big Bash League.
He recently signalled his intent for an Indian Premier League swansong, despite being cut by Mumbai last week.
Hussey backed Manuka Oval to forge a permanent place on the Australian cricket calendar and believes it can eventually host Test match cricket.
Australia played in front of a sell-out crowd against the West Indies in its first-ever one-day international in the capital last summer, while Wednesday's South Africa clash was also well supported.
"All they can do is put up a world class facility, present a good case by the crowds coming out and there's no reason why they can't have a Test match here," Hussey said.
"It's nice to play at the big stadiums like the MCG and Adelaide Oval, but the players like getting out to some different areas and playing in different conditions.
"The Big Bash final is going to be huge. I'm probably a bit biased, but Canberra is actually in the Sydney Thunder catchment area, if we could make it it would almost be a home final."
The Prime Minister's XI traditionally fields a couple of Canberra-based players and Hussey backed moves for an ACT side to return to the domestic one-day competition for the first time since 2000.
Cricket ACT recently formed an alliance with Country Cricket NSW and Cricket NSW to strengthen its claims.
"It would be good to push the ACT back into the one-day competition, I must admit I enjoyed playing against the ACT," he said.
