Cricket ACT and ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr will meet with Cricket Australia this week armed with a sweetener for their hopes of finalising a new deal for international content in Canberra.
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Manuka Oval was given the highest possible rating for its pitch and outfield by the ICC after the venue hosted its first Test when Australia beat Sri Lanka earlier this month.
The state of the field gives Canberra officials more ammunition for trying to get top-level cricket back to the city, especially given there was major criticism of the MCG and SCG.
The ICC scale slides from "very good" as the best and "unfit" as the worst. Manuka has been either very good, or good, for men's and women's internationals in the past three years.
The Australia-Sri Lanka Test was the last item on a four-year deal and more than 30,000 fans attended that match. Barr was hopeful a new content deal could be locked in for the next eight years.
Cricket ACT boss James Allsopp praised Manuka curator Brad Van Dam and his team of workers for having the field in pristine condition for the Test and then a Big Bash game just days later.
"I think [the ICC rating] is fitting recognition for the outstanding state Brad and the team had the ground in, not just this year as well," Allsopp said.
"We want to have competitive Test matches for bat and ball. Brad and the team delivered that, it was almost the perfect Test cricket wicket for offering something for everyone.
"It just shows how skilled the ground staff are. It's been an incredible effort for the team, and when there's so much talk about wickets around the country it makes us really proud.
"We'll sit down with Cricket Australia this week to work through the next deal. We're very close ... it's a really attractive proposal."
The ACT government announced $2.4 million in sport and recreational funding on Tuesday to boost participation sports and their organisations.
Squash ACT has been granted $18,000 to install a security system and CCTV to allow its courts in Woden to have 24-hour access.
The women sport participation and leadership program was included in the grants and Sport Minister Yvette Berry said they were working towards a three-year goal of 40 per cent female representation on boards.
"We're doing OK. We're halfway through the program so we really want to encourage the organisations that get triennial funding to get 40 per cent representation on their sports boards," Berry said.
"We have the diversity register now, which has a whole lot of skilled people on it and we want to make sure they have the diversity on their boards."
Berry also praised the Canberra Capitals for their run to the WNBL championship this season, which they won in front of almost 5000 fans, while the government is also open to a deal to get men's basketball back to Canberra next season.
The Illawarra Hawks shifted an NBL game to the capital, with 3344 people watching the first match in Canberra in 10 years.
"We're always open to opportunities," Berry said. "[The Capitals] grand final was great. The Capitals have targeted their sport to an audience and you could see that. Now it's about building on that momentum."
