The ACT Comets (also known as the Canberra Comets) are a

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

team that represent the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory until 1938, is an internal States and territories of Australia, territory of Australia. Canberra, the capital city of Australia, is situated within the territory, an ...

. The Comets are the premier team of the

Cricket ACT Cricket ACT is the governing body of cricket in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). In 1922, the Federal Territory Cricket Association (FTCA) was established to govern the sport of cricket in the then Federal Capital Territory, which had bee ...

who are affiliated with

Cricket Australia Cricket Australia (CA) is the governing body for professional and amateur cricket in Australia. It was originally formed in 1905 as the 'Australian Board of Control for International Cricket'. It is incorporated as an Australian Public Company ...

In the Domestic One Day Competition

The ACT Comets were participants in the Australian domestic limited-overs Mercantile Mutual Cup competition. They did not, however, field a team in the four-day

Sheffield Shield The Sheffield Shield is the domestic first-class cricket competition of Australia. The tournament is contested between teams representing the six states of Australia. The Sheffield Shield is named after Henry Holroyd, 3rd Earl of Sheffield, Lor ...

competition. Their Mercantile Mutual Cup involvement lasted from the 1997–98 season to the 1999–2000 season. It was found that there was insufficient local support at that time to be financially viable in the first-class and

list-A List A cricket is a classification of the limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competitions in which the numb ...

competitions. Former Australian Test bowler

Merv Hughes Mervyn Gregory Hughes (born 23 November 1961) is a former Australian cricketer. A right-arm fast bowler, he represented Australia in 53 Test matches between 1985 and 1994, taking 212 wickets. He played 33 One Day Internationals, taking 38 wicke ...

was brought out of retirement to help ACT, as was former Test batsman

Mike Veletta Michael Robert John Veletta (born 30 October 1963) is a former Australian cricketer. He played in eight Test cricket, Test matches and 20 One Day Internationals between 1987 and 1990. He played 127 first-class matches including 114 Sheffield ...

ACT and Canberra region players

Australian internationals

Brad Haddin Bradley James Haddin (born 23 October 1977), is an Australian former cricketer, vice-captain and coach who represented Australia national cricket team, Australia in all three forms of international cricket. He played domestically for New South ...

and

Nathan Lyon Nathan Michael Lyon (born 20 November 1987) is an Australian international cricketer. He made his Test debut in 2011 and plays domestic cricket for New South Wales. Lyon is an off-spin bowler and a lower-order right-handed batsman. Considered ...

played for the Comets. Former Australian Test batsman

Michael Bevan Michael Gwyl Bevan (born 8 May 1970) is an Australian former international cricketer. He played as a left-handed batsman and a slow left-arm wrist spin bowler. For several years, he was considered the world's finest One Day International (ODI) ...

was born in Canberra and played cricket with the Weston Creek club, but did not play for the Comets. Police Magistrate A. T. Faunce was instrumental in bringing cricket to the Canberra-Queanbeyan region in the 1830s and died while playing the game at the Queanbeyan Market reserve (now Queen Elizabeth Park). There have been 25 players to play 50 or more games for the ACT. Four players have reached 100, while Peter Solway is the only to have reached 150 games. The highest individual scores in ACT grade cricket have been: 339 – PJ Solway (1989/90), 300 – JR Dean (2012/13), 246 – CE Hincksman (1926/27), 238 – L Lees (1932/33), 220 – C Brown (2008/9), 215 – L Lees (1933/34), 211 – PJ Solway (1990/91), 207- NH Fairbrother (1988/89), 205 – JN Williams (1988/89), 200 – MJ Dawn (2001/02), 200- C Brown (2008/09) Owen Chivers 204* and Michael Spaseski 221 in same match 2013/14 .

In Second XI

Today, the team represents ACT in the lower-level Second XI competition, a reserve grade to the Sheffield Shield. The Comets finished the 2005–06 season in fourth place with two outright wins. The Comets took out their first ever title in the 2010–11 season.

Player transfers

In the period 2011-2012 six 20 to 23-year-old first class listed players who learnt cricket in Canberra have had to transfer interstate – Jason Floros (20, QLD),

Jason Behrendorff Jason Paul Behrendorff (born 20 April 1990) is an Australian cricketer who played One Day International, One Day Internationals and Twenty20 International, Twenty20 Internationals for Australia national cricket team, Australia and first-class an ...

(20, WA),

(23, SA), Ashton May (21, Tas), Ryan Carters (20, VIC) and

Will Sheridan Will Sheridan Jr. (born January 12, 1985) is a former college basketball player who played for the Villanova Wildcats Men's Basketball program from 2003 to 2007. After graduation, he played as an international basketball player in Italy. He is n ...

(23, VIC).

References

External links