Manuka Oval at its best with the PM’s XI in 2025. Picture: Jennifer Andrew.
New Cricket ACT CEO Anthony Ilott will need to hit the ground running as he fills the role vacated by Olivia Thornton.
Ilott joins Cricket ACT from Visit Victoria following previous positions with Cricket Victoria, the Victorian Government and Crown Melbourne.
His experience in government relations and infrastructure should serve him well given the challenges facing the game in Canberra.
This includes the future of the PM’s XI.
At the behest of English cricket, next year’s PM’s XI has been moved from Canberra to Melbourne’s Junction Oval to be closer to the MCG ahead of the 150th Anniversary Test between Australia and England in March next year.
The English showed scant regard for the PM’s XI in November last year when they sent a team minus the majority of their test players.
It appears they have doubled down on that notion by bypassing Manuka Oval altogether to play a pink ball warm-up game under lights at Junction Oval.
Manuka Oval. Photo: Thomas Lucraft.
There’s no doubt it should be in Canberra, but England wanted it to be close to the MCG.
The challenge for Anthony Ilott is to ensure that it’s a one-off.
It has been hard enough to find a place in a crowded calendar.
But the fight for the PM’s XI is just one of the hurdles ACT Cricket faces.
The ACT is currently attempting to navigate a political minefield, namely the Cricket Australia Board.
Currently a non-member of the board, the ACT remains on the outer when decisions are made, even those that impact the ACT.
The ACT has been continually blocked in its attempt to gain not only a designated seat on the board but a place in men’s domestic first-class cricket.
The PM’s XI has a long history in the ACT. Sir Robert Menzies with cricketers Ted Dexter and Don Bradman at Manuka Oval. Photo: NLA.
Cricket ACT chair Greg Boorer has been campaigning on another front as well in a bid to secure a Big Bash franchise in Canberra.
Despite a solid business case, the ACT has continually been rebuffed.
Just last month, the ACT moved to strengthen its junior pathway program by launching the Brad Haddin Shield.
The launch came several months after Cricket Australia (CA) floated the idea that the ACT could lose its identity at the under-age national championships.
CA had proposed that the ACT, the Northern Territory and Tasmania form one team known as the Allies.
Following the backlash, that plan appears to be on the back burner.
Meanwhile, there is continued pressure on available facilities. Despite a growing population in the ACT, there has been no corresponding growth in infrastructure.
Balancing this list of positives and negatives, the sport itself is in a healthy state with substantial growth in junior and women’s cricket in particular.
At the moment, the challenges are significant but not insurmountable.