The visiting English will meet the Prime Minister’s XI between the first and second Ashes Tests
The Prime Minister’s XI will play England in a novel two-day pink-ball fixture before the day-night Ashes Test, it was confirmed today.
The match is the first time an England XI will play a multi-day match against the PM’s XI in what has until recently typically been a one-day affair.
The PM’s XI broke with tradition in the 2022-23 summer when it played against a four-day game against the touring West Indies. That day-night match was the first PM’s XI fixture to use the pink Kookaburra, which will again feature this summer. Likewise, last summer was supposed to see a two-day pink ball fixture against India, although the first day was completely rained out.
The PM’s XI match will be played on the weekend of November 29-30 at Canberra’s Manuka Oval, just three days before the day-night second NRMA Insurance Ashes Test begins at the Gabba on December 4.
The PM’s XI match will be held between Sheffield Shield rounds, raising hopes both sides could field strong playing XIs.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said: “I look forward to meeting with the selectors to finalise a PM’s XI squad that showcases the best available talent from across Australia to take on the strong English team.”
The match promises to be the sterner of England’s two warm-up matches on their tour down under this summer, with the other a pre-series hit out against their England Lions development squad.
The Lions, which has included Andrew Flintoff’s teenage son Rocky in recent times, will feature in a three-day intra-squad hit-out in Perth ahead of the opening Test, for which the day one ticket allocation has been officially exhausted.
The intra-squad clash, at Perth’s Lillac Hill venue on November 13-15, will not be officially scored, with England understood to be keen to utilise it more for centre-wicket and match simulation sessions to help Ben Stokes’ squad fine tune for the series.
The England Lions will then play a four-day first-class match against a Cricket Australia XI that will run simultaneously with the West Test in Perth, held at Lilac Hill from November 21-24.
That match will also coincide with round five of the Sheffield Shield, which starts on Saturday November 22.
The Lions will then play an Australia A side at Allan Border Field in Brisbane from December 5 in a match that will again shadow the nearby Ashes Test and the sixth round of Shield cricket.
That will be the fifth Australia A first-class match this summer, following two completed this month in Darwin against Sri Lanka A, and with two abroad against India in Lucknow in September.
CA’s Head of Cricket Operations and Scheduling, Peter Roach, said: “The reciprocal A series against the England Lions is important for Australian Cricket giving our players the chance to perform against high calibre opposition.
“It is a big year of Australia A cricket opportunities with the recently completed series against Sri Lanka A and tour of India in September before the Lions series.”
Ashes tour matches
Nov 13-15: England v England Lions intra-squad, Lilac Hill, Perth
Nov 29-30: Prime Minister’s XI v England XI, Manuka Oval, Canberra (D/N)
England Lions tour
Nov 21-24: CA XI v England Lions, Lilac Hill, Perth
Dec 5-8: Australia A v England Lions, Allan Border Field, Brisbane
