Prime Minister's XI

Prime Minister's XI

Personnel
Captain	Nathan McSweeney (2023)
Team information
Established	1951
Home ground	Manuka Oval, Canberra
Capacity	13,550[1]

The Prime Minister's XI or PM's XI (formerly Australian Prime Minister's Invitation XI) is an invitational cricket team picked by the Prime Minister of Australia for an annual match held at the Manuka Oval in Canberra against an overseas touring team. The Australian team usually consists of up-and-coming grade cricketers from the Canberra region and state players.

In 1962–63, Sir Donald Bradman came out of retirement to play for the Prime Minister's XI against the Marylebone Cricket Club. It was the last time Bradman ever played competitive cricket, and he was freakishly bowled by Brian Statham for just four runs. When Bradman returned to the pavilion, he told then-Prime Minister Robert Menzies, "It wouldn't happen in a thousand years. Anyway, that's my final appearance at the wicket."^[2]

In 2003, there was a match between the PM's XI and an ATSIC Chairperson's XI held at Adelaide Oval.^[3]

The match on 2 December 2005 had to end early due to the Canberra storms, with Australia getting 4/316, and West Indies finishing in the 31st over at 3/174. The PM's XI won by six runs using the Duckworth-Lewis method, the first time in the fixture's history to be decided using the method.

In 2014, the Prime Minister's XI suffered the biggest defeat in the history of the match against England after being bowled out for just 92.^[4]

Date(s)	Prime Minister	Opposition team	Format	Result/winner	Result/margin
27 Oct 1951	Robert Menzies	West Indies	One day match	Match drawn
8 Dec 1954	Robert Menzies	Marylebone CC XI	One day match	Marylebone CC XI	31 runs
10 Feb 1959	Robert Menzies	Marylebone CC XI	One day match	Marylebone CC XI	4 wickets[5]
18 Feb 1961	Robert Menzies	West Indies	One day match	Match tied
6 Feb 1963	Robert Menzies	Marylebone CC XI	One day match	Marylebone CC XI	4 runs
3 Feb 1964	Robert Menzies	South Africa	One day match	Prime Minister's XI	1 wicket
17 Dec 1965	Robert Menzies	Marylebone CC XI	One day match	Marylebone CC XI	2 wickets
24 Jan 1984	Bob Hawke	West Indies	One day match	Prime Minister's XI	52 runs
22 Jan 1985	Bob Hawke	West Indies	One day match	West Indies	15 runs
22 Jan 1986	Bob Hawke	New Zealand	One day match	No result[a]
23 Dec 1986	Bob Hawke	England	One day match	England XI	4 wickets
23 Dec 1987	Bob Hawke	New Zealand	One day match	New Zealand	37 runs
13 Jan 1988	Bob Hawke	Aboriginal XI	One day match	Aboriginal XI	7 wickets
8 Dec 1988	Bob Hawke	West Indies	One day match	Match abandoned[a]
9 Jan 1989	Bob Hawke	Aboriginal XI	One day match	Aboriginal XI	3 wickets
31 Jan 1990	Bob Hawke	Pakistan	One day match	Prime Minister's XI	81 runs
4 Dec 1990	Bob Hawke	England	One day match	Prime Minister's XI	31 runs
17 Dec 1991	Bob Hawke	India	One day match	Prime Minister's XI	75 runs
12 Nov 1992	Paul Keating	West Indies	One day match	Prime Minister's XI	3 runs
2 Dec 1993	Paul Keating	South Africa	One day match	Prime Minister's XI	4 runs
9 Nov 1994	Paul Keating	England	One day match	Prime Minister's XI	2 wickets
5 Dec 1995	Paul Keating	West Indies	One day match	Match abandoned[a]
10 Dec 1996	John Howard	West Indies	One day match	Prime Minister's XI	58 runs
2 Dec 1997	John Howard	South Africa	One day match	South Africa	11 runs
17 Dec 1998	John Howard	England	One day match	England XI	16 runs
7 Dec 1999	John Howard	India	One day match	Prime Minister's XI	164 runs
7 Dec 2000	John Howard	West Indies	One day match	Prime Minister's XI	4 wickets
19 Apr 2001	John Howard	ATSIC Chairman's XI	One day match	ATSIC Chairman's XI	7 wickets
6 Dec 2001	John Howard	New Zealand	One day match	New Zealand	4 wickets
8 Mar 2002	John Howard	ATSIC Chairman's XI	One day match	Prime Minister's XI	8 wickets
10 Dec 2002	John Howard	England	One day match	Prime Minister's XI	4 wickets
21 Mar 2003	John Howard	ATSIC Chairman's XI	One day match	Prime Minister's XI	8 wickets
28 Jan 2004	John Howard	India	One day match	India	1 run
25 Jan 2005	John Howard	Pakistan	One day match	Pakistan	5 wickets
2 Dec 2005	John Howard	West Indies	One day match	Prime Minister's XI	6 runs (DLS)[a]
10 Nov 2006	John Howard	England	One day match	Prime Minister's XI	166 runs
30 Jan 2008	Kevin Rudd	Sri Lanka	One day match	Sri Lanka	4 wickets
29 Jan 2009	Kevin Rudd	New Zealand	One day match	Prime Minister's XI	6 wickets
4 Feb 2010	Kevin Rudd	West Indies	One day match	West Indies	90 runs (DLS)[a]
10 Jan 2011	Julia Gillard	England	One day match	England	7 wickets (DLS)[a]
3 Feb 2012	Julia Gillard	Sri Lanka	One day match	Match abandoned[a]
29 Jan 2013	Julia Gillard	West Indies	One day match	Prime Minister's XI	23 runs
14 Jan 2014	Tony Abbott	England	One day match	England	172 runs
14 Jan 2015	Tony Abbott	England	One day match	England	60 runs
23 Oct 2015	Malcolm Turnbull	New Zealand	One day match	New Zealand	102 runs
15 Feb 2017	Malcolm Turnbull	Sri Lanka	One day match	Sri Lanka	5 wickets
31 Oct 2018	Scott Morrison	South Africa	One day match	Prime Minister's XI	4 wickets
24 Oct 2019	Scott Morrison	Sri Lanka	One day match	Prime Minister's XI	1 wicket
23–26 Nov 2022	Anthony Albanese	West Indies	Four day match	Match drawn
6–9 Dec 2023	Anthony Albanese	Pakistan	Four day match	Match drawn

In the MCC tour of Australia in 1954–55 the cricket loving Prime Minister of Australia Robert Menzies invited the MCC to a reception on the evening before the match and the ex-Australian captain Lindsay Hassett recited a ditty about facing "Typhoon" Tyson.

They say that this bloke Tyson is fast!
Faster than Larwood so they say!
They also say that he takes a run-up of a hundred yards!
Fast - psshaw! I'm not scared of him and his long run.
Tomorrow when I bat, I'll hook him out of sight!

When he finished there was a thunder-clap from the storm outside "Listen, he's just started his run-up!" joked Hassett. The match was a game played in one day with each side playing one innings rather than Limited overs cricket in the modern sense of the term. Hutton won the toss and opened with Bill Edrich, but both were out for 25/2, but Peter May made 101 and added 98 with Vic Wilson (29) and 76 with Tom Graveney (56). Johnny Wardle scooped and swatted 37 not out and the MCC declared on 278/7 after 40 eight-ball overs. The match had a party atmosphere and Hassett gave 9 of his players a bowl, six of them took a wicket and himself 2/34 with his medium pacers. Tailender Ian Johnson opened the Australian bowling and was out for 4, but his partner was the big hitting Richie Benaud who smashed the ball all over the ground in his 113 as the Prime Minister's XI made 247 off 30.3 overs at over a run a ball. One of his sixes was caught by the Governor General Field Marshal Sir William Slim and a businessman donated £35 and 10 shillings to local charities, 30 shillings for each six and 10 shillings for each four. Veteran batsman Sam Loxton hit 47 and Keith Miller 38 as Bill Edrich's fast bowling cost him 40 runs off 5 overs, though he did take 2 wickets. Johnny Wardle (4/73) produced a middle order collapse from 195/2 to 234/7 with Vic Wilson helping him with three catches. When Hassett came in to bat Tyson was brought on and took an outrageously long run up before bowling a slow donkey drop. He then bowled a real bouncer that hit Hassett on the hand before catching him off Len Hutton's leg spin (3/15) for a 31 run victory.^[6]

On the MCC tour of Australia in 1958–59 Prime Minister Robert Menzies had five Australian captains in his team; Lindsay Hassett, Ian Johnson, Arthur Morris, Ian Craig and Ray Lindwall, the all-rounder Sam Loxton and a Victorian wicket-keeper called Les Botham. They batted first and the opener Morris hit 14 boundaries in his 79 and Brian James, a New South Wales Country player hit 5 sixes in his 88 before retiring hurt. Tom Graveney took 2/38 with his leg-spin and Jim Laker 2/61. They declared on 288/7 off 38 eight-ball overs in two hours and thirty-five minutes, leaving the MCC roughly the same number of overs in slightly less time. Peter Richardson was out for a duck to Lindwall, Ted Dexter thrashed 76 before hitting his wicket and Colin Cowdrey struck 101 runs in 84 minutes with 10 boundaries to win the match by four wickets. After the victory the MCC batted on to entertain the crowd and Cowdrey reached his century before he was caught by Hassett off Morris (4/46), who ran through the lower order with his part-time leg-spin and they were all out for 332.

In the MCC tour of Australia in 1962–63 there was intense anticipation for the match against the Prime Minister's XI as the 54-year-old Sir Donald Bradman agreed to captain the team after 14 years without playing cricket. The thorough man that he was Bradman started practicing for the big day and 10,000 men, women and children came to see him bat for the last time. His old foe the MCC assistant-manager Alec Bedser agreed to play and the Bradman Pavilion was unveiled at the Manuka Oval. The Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies was a keen cricket fan who initiated these matches in 1951 and the money raised was donated to Legacy, a charity for the dependents of deceased Australian servicemen. Ted Dexter won the toss and elected to bat with Bradman fielding at first slip they rattled the fence with 36 fours and birthday-boy Fred Trueman hit a six. David Sheppard top-scored with 72 and Colin Cowdrey made 42. Richie Benaud took 2/62 off 8 overs, but the bowling honours went to the Canberra leg-spinner G. Brown, who took 3/61. Dexter nicked a ball off Brown to Wally Grout, but was called back by Bradman when he walked as the umpire gave him not out. "Lord Ted" lofted the next ball to Cowper at extra-cover and walked off for 22. Dexter declared the innings at 253/7, leaving the Prime Minister's XI 254 to win and Bob Cowper (47) and Ray Flockton (45) got the home team off to a good start with 7 boundaries apiece. They had both departed and the score was 108/3 when the name of Bradman came up on the board and the great man in a baggy green cap walked out to the crease to a standing ovation, surrounded by photographers and greeted by the England team. Tom Graveney's leg-spin got him off the mark with a straight-drive and in the next over from Brian Statham the Australian politician Don Chipp hit a single to put Bradman on strike. Although it was the intention of the MCC to let Bradman get some runs, and to bat against Bedser, Statham bowled a leg-cutter that came off the inside edge, brushed the pads and bounced onto the stumps with just enough force to dislodge a bail and the Don was out. Statham threw up his hands in anguish and the crowd was stunned, but "the little man, after one brief look back at his broken wicket, walked quickly away, the step firm, the head erect, but the shoulders, one thought, now slightly stooped. He had made one scoring stroke, for four. The crowd watched him go and sighed. How much they wanted just a half-hour, at least, of him—as the Englishmen had."^[7] In his last Test 14 years before he had been bowled by Eric Hollies for a duck, four runs short of a Test average of 100.00. He reached the pavilion to the commiserations of the Prime Minister and the Duke of Norfolk and told them "It wouldn't happen in a thousand years. Anyway that's my final appearance at the wicket."^[2] After this the rest of the match was an anticlimax. Neil Harvey was out for 3 and the PM's XI were 123/6 before Richie Benaud (63) and Ken Mackay (49) restored the situation, but David Allen (5/68) took three quick wickets, G. Brown was unable to bat so the PM's XI were out for 250 and the MCC won by 3 runs. Robert Menzies invited both teams to dinner and at the end of his speech presented a delighted Fred Trueman with a silver tankard as a birthday present from the Australian people. The Duke joked to the Prime Minister "I suppose you know you've just destroyed the disciplinary labours of several months?"^[8][9][10]

On the MCC tour of Australia in 1965–66 the Prime Minister of Australia Robert Menzies had a team that consisted of Australian Test players such as Wally Grout, Alan Connolly and Bob Cowper, retired veterans Neil Harvey, Richie Benaud and Jim Burke, young talent like Keith Stackpole and the teenaged Paul Sheahan as well as the famous West Indian fast bowler Wes Hall. Benaud captained the team and fulfilled 90% of his duties by winning the toss and choosing to bat. Thanks to Burke (79), Sheahan (60), Benaud (45) and Stackpole (32 not out) the Prime Minister's XI hit 288/7 in 35 overs, with the wickets shared amongst the touring bowlers with Jeff Jones taking 2/21, David Larter 2/43 and Bob Barber 2/72. The declaration came halfway through the day and the MCC's 289/8 also took 35 overs, though they passed 200 for the loss of two wickets as Geoff Boycott made 95 before he was run out, Colin Cowdrey 52 and M.J.K. Smith 51 not out. Eight bowlers were used, but the best was Jim Burke who took 2/5 with his infamous chucking action, dismissing John Murray and Jones for ducks in the closing minutes of the match.

• Alec Bedser, May's Men in Australia, Stanley Paul, 1959
• A.G. Moyes and Tom Goodman, With the M.C.C. in Australia 1962–63, A Critical Story of the Tour, The Sportsmans Book Club, 1965
• E.W. Swanton, Swanton in Australia, with MCC 1946–1975, Fontana, 1977
• Fred Trueman, As It Was, The Memoirs of Fred Trueman, Pan Books, 2004
• Frank Tyson, In the Eye of the Typhoon: The Inside Story of the MCC Tour of Australia and New Zealand 1954/55, Parrs Wood Press, 2004

• Statistics

35°19′05″S 149°08′06″E / 35.318°S 149.135°E / -35.318; 149.135

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