Manuka Oval could be short-format's shining light
Manuka Oval has emerged as a shining light in short-format cricket's search for a home fitting of its stature.
Few nations are able to draw massive crowds to one-day internationals across Australia with India's ability to turn Melbourne into Mumbai impossible to match for other touring nations.
Crowd figures suggest boutique venues such as Manuka Oval could be perfect for the 50-over format, creating a better atmosphere than what could be found with a similar crowd at a bigger stadium.
Australia's recent three-game series with South Africa was played in front of modest crowds totalling 24,342 fans in Perth, 17,680 in Adelaide and just 5500 in Hobart.
Cricket ACT chief executive James Allsopp believes Canberra will likely miss out on a Test in the next multi-year deal being discussed between Cricket Australia and the ACT government.
However Allsopp is confident there will be more short-format international cricket being played in the capital over the coming years, which will be kick-started by five women's Twenty20 World Cup fixtures in 2020.
Australia is set to host three five-Test summers in a row with Pakistan and New Zealand due next season, before India and Afghanistan roll in for another five in the 2020-21 summer.
The Ashes will follow suit to leave Canberra unlikely to secure a Test match until at least late-2022, however a big crowd at this week's Test will only fuel the ACT's hopes of securing another.
"We’ll talk with Cricket Australia about those opportunities. In the short-term, we want a successful historic first Test match here at Manuka Oval," ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr said.
"The ticket sales are going incredibly strongly, I would certainly encourage those in the Canberra region to get your tickets now, don’t wait until the day. There will be more events here in the future.
"Let’s get a successful first Test match under our belt and then look to build from there. This has been the long-term journey for this venue. It was nearly a decade ago now that we began our partnership with the AFL.
"We needed more content, we needed this venue to be used year round in order to justify the sort of investment the ACT government has made in the venue.
"Now that we have that regular AFL content, we’ve seen a great response from Cricket Australia to partner with us to bring national and international events to Manuka Oval. Now that is occurring, it gives great confidence to be able to make further strategic investments in the facility in years ahead."
Canberra is locked in an eternal battle with Hobart's Bellerive Oval to become Cricket Australia's premier No. 6 venue.
The Melbourne Cricket Ground, Sydney Cricket Ground, Perth Stadium and Adelaide Oval are all entrenched in the top four with the latter three all undergoing recent redevelopments.
The Gabba in Brisbane has slid down the pecking order following a recent run of lacklustre crowds, which suggests the forecast sell-outs at Manuka Oval could be vital for Canberra's hopes of more top-level content.