ANU star Ben Mitchell helps NSW to Cricket Australia Imparja Cup win

That's why the chance to join Weston Creek Molonglo's Djali Bloomfield and Ginninderra's Ethan Fitzpatrick in the triumphant NSW outfit at the Imparja Cup this week means so much.

More important than his stellar bowling display (3-7 from four overs) in the final was the chance for the ANU star to connect with his heritage while overlooking the orange ranges in Alice Springs.

"The focus is really on the cultural side of it," Mitchell said.

"There was a rest day on the Wednesday this year. We spent three hours with a couple of elders from the local area in the Alice area.

"We did a workshop with them and it was really interesting and informative to learn from guys who are trying to basically keep the values of indigenous people alive.

"They're going out to schools and teaching local languages, it was pretty eye-opening and interesting.

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"For blokes like myself and Djali, we definitely got a lot out of it. You don't get opportunities to learn like that down here."

A few days later came the chance to lift the trophy - it would be the third in succession for NSW, but the first for Mitchell.

The defending champions came across Queensland in the final, and few could have envisioned the Mitchell masterclass that was to follow during a last-ditch decision to bowl first.

Mitchell claimed the remarkable figures of 3-7 from four overs to go with a run out, while Bloomfield nabbed 1-12 to skittle Queensland for 46.

NSW lost five wickets en route to the target but the match was never in danger.

"We decided to bowl first about 50 seconds before the toss, and it had nothing to do with the look of the pitch or anything," Mitchell said.

"We were just really up and about in the warm-up, and our skipper said 'look, let's just bowl, let's take this energy out there'. It all just started from there really.

"We obviously got beaten by Queensland two days before and we'd already qualified for the final.

"We gave a few guys a bat and tweaked the bowling a little bit, then we hit the ground running in the final and performed as we knew we could."

Now he hopes ANU can do the same as they prepare to face Wests in a 50-over game at Jamison Oval on Saturday amid a bizarre summer riddled by poor air quality, bushfire smoke and now rain.

Cricket ACT has deemed all matches, originally scheduled as two-day games, will be played as one-day games.

It comes after day one was cancelled due to the state of emergency declared across the ACT last week due to the threat of bushfires.

Now players find themselves facing the threat of having games disrupted by rain - but that matters little for ANU with their sights set on a semi-final berth.

"I don't know whether it suits us or not, but we're definitely in form," Mitchell said.

"I think we've won seven of our past eight matches across all forms. We're building nicely and we're pretty firmly set in the top four if the weather holds off.

"I know the boys are pretty keen, they've trained hard and they're ready."