ANU's Ben Mitchell returns to Gallop Cup, Canberra City take step towards reconciliation

A lot has changed since Mitchell packed away his blue-and-white uniform and started his stint with Sydney Cricket Club.

The premier cricket side have a new coach, a young captain and a maturing side for their 2019-20 campaign.

Mitchell passed on his captaincy to Dan Leerdam, who will steer the ship for a second-straight season, while Cricket ACT's Dan Ryan has taken the coaching reins.

The youthful side finished seventh last season but Mitchell's return will inject an added layer of experience as they look to reach the semi-finals.

MORE CANBERRA SPORT

"My whole reason for coming back to ANU is to help the younger players, who are starting their cricket career, make them the best cricketers they can become," Mitchell said.

"I know there's confidence around the club that we'll definitely improve on [last season's finish].

"We've definitely set our goal on semi-finals cricket and there's absolutely no reason why we can't achieve that."

ANU will kick off their Gallop Cup campaign against powerhouse Weston Creek at Stirling Oval on Saturday.

Mitchell played with most of the Weston Creek side in last year's Cricket ACT Twenty20 Cup, and expects there'll be plenty of banter around the crease.

"It'll be interesting to play against them rather than with them," Mitchell said.

"It'll be a good challenge for our boys to test themselves against one of the best, if not the best, teams in the competition."

Meanwhile Canberra City Cricket Club have joined forces with the Aboriginal Artwork Middle Stump Initiative and have bought ten specialised stumps for the upcoming season.

The initiative aims to increase the participation of Indigenous youngsters in cricket and further the cause of reconciliation.

Canberra City sourced funds to purchase the stumps and then located Ngunnawal artist Shaenice Allan to paint the middle stumps.

All proceeds go into a fund to help encourage local Indigenous children to play cricket and towards supporting the artist.

The club has five teams in the Canberra City and Suburban Cricket Association and the stumps will be used for all matches played at their home grounds in O'Connor and Lyneham.

Canberra City will do a welcome to country and explain the initiative to both club and opposition players during the opening round on Saturday.

"Every time you put those stumps into the ground, it's an acknowledgement of country and playing on Ngunnawal land," club secretary Bill Turner said.

"It's an enormous benefit and boost for reconciliation. The goal is for the rest of the association and Cricket ACT to pick it up, and then ultimately, Cricket Australia.

"We've already had a really good response to it both within and outside our club. It's heartwarming."

The likes of Ashleigh Gardner and D'Arcy Short are paving the way for Indigenous youngsters who want to push into the upper echelon of Australian cricket.

Mitchell, who has Indigenous heritage, has backed Canberra City's stance and hopes more local clubs take the initiative.

"I think it's really important we recognise the local Ngunnawal people and the land we play cricket on," Mitchell said.

"It's something we can all do and it would be good to see more local clubs take the initiative.

"Indigenous cricket has come along way in the last decade and we're starting to see more indigenous players in the Australian side, like Ash Gardner and D'Arcy Short.

"Only last week Djali Bloomfield, who plays for Weston Creek, has played some higher level cricket. He's a big advocate for Indigenous cricket in the local area and has done a lot of work around that."

ACT GALLOP CUP

Round one: Ginninderra v Eastlake at Kippax Oval, North Canberra-Gungahlin v Queanbeyan at Keith Tournier Memorial Oval, Tuggeranong Valley v Western District at Chisholm Oval, Weston Creek Molonglo v ANU at Stirling Oval

All games on Saturday, 10am