Playing this year's Prime Minister's XI as a Twenty20 match may well have been a glimpse into the future with next summer's fixture to be played in cricket's shortest format.
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The hype of the Ashes series will hit the capital next summer when England play the Prime Minister's XI in a Twenty20 match on February 2.
England have typically been the fixture's biggest drawcard and officials are hoping to capitalise off the hype surrounding the Big Bash League finals and the Ashes series.
The most recent clash against Sri Lanka drew 7120 fans to Manuka Oval and Cricket ACT chief executive Cameron French is expecting a big crowd for the annual contest.
Shifting the fixture to the game's most exciting format opened the door for Manuka Oval to host two matches in a day, with the ACT hosting Papua New Guinea in a curtain-raiser.
While nothing is set in stone, French is hopeful that arrangement will continue after Cricket Australia were "very supportive" of the concept.
Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland told Fairfax Media he enjoyed the concept of having two games in a day earlier this year, leaving the door ajar for the same thing to happen next summer.
"We'd certainly love that to happen again and to have the ACT side playing in a warm-up," French said.
"We'll suggest that to Cricket Australia so that would certainly be our preference, but that's something we will broach in the planning for next year."
The Prime Minister's XI fixture won't be the only short format Canberra is exposed to next summer with junior cricket set for a major overhaul.
The capital played a role in the pilot program and French hopes a seismic shift in the way junior cricket is played will boost participation rates and open the door for more people to get involved in the game.
Cricket Australia announced radical changes to junior formats for children under the age of 14 in the hope it will increase participation and boost skill levels of young players.
Reduced pitch length, shorter boundaries, and reduced playing numbers are all part of the changes coming to junior cricket, while match length will be trimmed to two hours for under 10/11s, and three hours for under 12/13s.
At under 10/11s level each team will have seven players. That increases to nine for the next two age groups before fleshing out to the standard 11 at under 14s.
"Cricket is different. There's more action, it takes less time, and it should result in more fun," French said.
"The change in numbers mean that more more people are batting and bowling, but also there's more gaps in the field so there is more runs scored."
