England's Canberra Snub Divides Cricket Community
Cricket ACT has broken its silence on the controversial decision by England's Ashes team to bypass Canberra entirely, with chief executive Olivia Thornton describing the reaction to the move as containing 'some hysteria'. The unprecedented snub means no players from England's first Test defeat in Perth will feature in the traditional Prime Minister's XI fixture at Manuka Oval this weekend.
Second-String Squad Despite Ticket Sales
More than 3000 tickets have already been sold for Saturday's pink-ball match, with most purchasers likely unaware at the time of booking that they would witness an England second XI rather than the main Ashes squad. Instead of travelling to the capital, England's Test stars will fly directly to Brisbane on Wednesday to prepare for the second Test beginning December 4.
Only three players from England's extended Ashes squad - Jacob Bethell, Matthew Potts and Josh Tongue - have been released to join the England Lions developmental squad for the Canberra fixture. Thornton revealed Cricket ACT had been aware of England's plans 'for probably a few weeks', though promotional material continues to refer to the visiting team as 'England XI' rather than 'Lions'.
Defending the Decision Amid Backlash
The Prime Minister's Office declined to comment when approached about what many in the Canberra cricket community have described as a disrespectful move toward the historic fixture. However, Thornton defended England's approach, stating Cricket ACT and Cricket Australia were comfortable with the decision.
'We're not surprised,' Thornton said. 'I can understand why there's been some hysteria off the back of a two-day Test in Perth, but the reality is that we were never planning for having the actual England Test-playing XI here.'
She emphasised that eight Test players would still be involved across both teams and expressed confidence that the presence of stars like Sam Konstas and veteran bowler Peter Siddle would entertain what she expects to be a strong crowd.
England found support from Siddle, who suggested the differing conditions between Manuka Oval and the Gabba justified the decision. 'They are complete opposites,' Siddle told The Canberra Times. 'Manuka is not really going to bounce that much, it's going to keep pretty low, and then they're going to the Gabba where there's a lot of bounce.'
According to BBC reports, none of England's Perth Test players requested to play in Canberra despite having an extended 11-day break between matches. The decision has drawn criticism from cricket experts including former England captain Michael Vaughan, who described the move as 'amateurish'.
Thornton dismissed concerns that the snub threatened the future relevance of the PM's XI fixture on Australia's cricket calendar. 'Any elite content at Manuka is a wonderful opportunity for our community to get behind cricket here, which they always do,' she said.
The day-night, pink-ball format over two days was specifically designed by Cricket Australia to give England preparation for the day-night Test in Brisbane, though those plans have been abandoned by the touring team.
