The 28-year-old will be a part of the ACT Rockets team to play at the national titles in Melbourne this weekend.

They will be chasing back to back wins at the event, but they'll have to overcome an injection of talent after Queensland recruited one-time Twenty20 international Cameron Boyce for their campaign.

Winkler started playing indoor cricket in 2006 when his junior side needed more players. Since then he's played all but two years, including breaking into the men's side in 2014. He was man of the match in the Rockets' grand final win last year.

"I sort of realised early on that I probably wasn't going to reach the level that other people had in outdoor cricket," Winkler said.

"So I dedicated myself to reaching that level in indoor cricket. It was where I had my first job, I worked at the National Indoor Cricket Centre in Lyneham, which is now the Tennis Centre. That sort of piqued my interest, and I played most nights there.

"It's been a 14-year ride at the moment, it's a part of my life now. I've made lifelong friends who I continue to catch up with every nationals, all over the country and of course playing with people who are basically family is really good."

The Rockets are recognised as the most successful representative team in ACT cricket, and have been national champions three of the past four years.

"We've had the same team, well a nucleus of the same team, for the last five or six years so we've grown together as a group," Winkler said.

"Playing together is second nature, it's very much like a family. So it's really easy for us to gel."

Although the Rockets likely go into the nationals as favourites, Winkler knows there are some dangerous teams who will be fighting for the title.

"I don't want to say we are favourites because I know the talent that's in the other states. Victoria are always super talented, especially in their own state," Winkler said.

"Queensland have bought in Cameron Boyce, who won the BBL with the Melbourne Renegades this year.

"So we won't put any unnecessary pressure on ourselves, we'll just look to go out there and do what we do best and hopefully the result takes care of itself."

The Rockets will start their campaign on Saturday, where they will be playing at the new Casey Stadium in Melbourne.

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

June 29 - July 13: 2019 indoor cricket national championships at Casey Stadium.