Baseball: Canberra Cavalry star Robbie Perkins eyes 'massive' Japan series with Team Australia

This week it was announced that the number one-ranked team in the world will host Team Australia on November 9 and 10 at the Sapporo Dome and Hokkaido.

Perkins has donned the green and gold before, but Baseball Australia are not expected to announce the squad headed to Japan until closer to the series, scheduled to take place right before the ABL season begins.

"It's very exciting. It's a great opportunity for Team Australia to prepare for the upcoming World Baseball Classic in 2023," Perkins said.

"It's always really fun to face Japan. They're an incredible team. I've been lucky to be a part of several Team Australia squads to see what they're capable of and it's really impressive.

"I would expect that they are going to send a very strong team to this. They won't be pushovers by any means."

It will be a huge moment for Australian men's baseball after three years without international fixtures. For Japan it will be their first senior international clash since they won gold at the Tokyo Olympics last year.

"We got to play Japan at the 2017 World Baseball Classic and also at the 2019 Premier 12s tournament," Perkins said. "We lost both occasions, but we've been very competitive on both occasions that I've played them.

"This is absolutely massive. We don't get to play a lot of international games, so it's very hard for us to come together as a team and compete at a high level."

Perkins has recently joined some Cavalry teammates back at training. With some new signings expected soon for the upcoming season, Canberra are feeling confident of another strong ABL campaign.

"I'm not privy to all signings at this point in time, but the few that I've heard sound like really good pickups for us, and they're definitely going to have a big impact on the team," Perkins said.

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