Black Caps get pink ball warm-up

New Zealand will get a chance to prepare for their day-night Test match in Australia with a one-day match against a Mike Hussey-led Prime Minister’s XI that will be played with a pink ball in Canberra later this year.

The match against the Prime Minister’s XI is on October 23 at Manuka Oval, ahead of the historic day-night Test match in Adelaide on November 27.

The day-night Test will be the third of a three-Test series against the Black Caps on Australian soil this summer and will be the first to be played under lights and with a pink Kookaburra ball.

Brett Elliot, Group General Manager, Kookaburra explains how much effort has gone into getting the pink cricket ball ready for the first-ever day-night Test

Cricket Australia’s Chief Executive Officer James Sutherland is excited the Prime Minister’s XI match will again be held in the nation’s capital and endorsed Hussey as captain.

“It’s fantastic that we’ve been able to spread international cricket evenly in the ACT with the PM’s XI on 23 October 2015 followed by a Victoria Bitter One Day International match against India on 20 January 2016,” said Sutherland.

“Congratulations to Mike again on his appointment as captain. Many fans can look forward to him taking to the park in Canberra in October.

“The Prime Minister’s XI fixture has always been an important annual event on the Australian cricket calendar and we’re pleased this year that it will open our international season.

“Canberra has certainly proved its cricket hosting credentials following the highly successful ICC Cricket World Cup. It is for that reason that this coming season Manuka will stage the PM’s XI and a highly anticipated one-day international between Australia and India as part of a new partnership between Cricket Australia, the ACT Government and Cricket ACT.”

Hussey is thrilled that he gets to lead the team, having missed out on the last Prime Minister’s XI match against England earlier this year.

“It’s a tremendous honour to be selected again to captain the Prime Minister’s XI,” said Hussey.

“Having been selected last year, I was unable to play due to injury but I know how important this fixture is on the Australian cricketing calendar, and it is a great tradition.

WATCH: Highlights of the last PM's XI match

Hussey also unveiled the new Prime Minister’s XI uniform, which moved to white in colour in line with the use of a pink ball.

The remainder of the squad will be selected by Cricket Australia’s National Selection Panel with input from the Prime Minister, and will be announced closer to the match.

It was also announced that the Returned Services League (RSL) will be the official charity partner of the match.

Tickets for the game are available via Ticketek from Friday.