Cricket Australia hopes two Twenty20 warm-up games will boost participation numbers in the region despite Canberra missing out on hosting rights for World Cup fixtures.
Australia will play England at Manuka Oval on Wednesday and Friday night as they eye a World Cup prize in the coming weeks.
The ACT government opted not to bid to be a host venue for the tournament to instead invest in women's matches and more regular international cricket content.
The decision has paid off so far, with participation numbers jumping despite COVID, La Nina and bushfire disruptions of the past three years.
Community lead at Cricket ACT, Adrian Brunker said they are aiming to grow the key five to 12 year age group.
"We have been pleased with regular growth in junior cricket across the ACT, particularly in the girls' space where we now have 25 teams participating compared to 17 last season," he said.
"We want to continue this trajectory especially after emerging from two COVID-impacted seasons, 2022/23 presents the perfect opportunity for more kids to get involved in the sport."
Cricket in the ACT has emerged from the COVID-impacted era in strong shape, however, attracting first-time participants in the youngest age group has been identified as a key issue
The 2021-22 Australian Cricket census found there were just over 2500 players overall in the ACT, an increase of 218 per cent from 2020-21 and 204 per cent from 2019-20.
The uptake of indoor cricket was responsible for much of the growth.
Junior club cricket numbers saw a 14.6 per cent increase from 2020-21, and a 10.4 per cent boost from the previous season.
Female participation continues to be the biggest growth area in the sport.
Cricket Australia's community cricket general manager and former Cricket ACT chief executive James Allsopp said the impact of regional areas hosting international cricket can't be underestimated.
"We hope that seeing our men's and women's cricketers play in their hometowns will inspire kids of all ages and abilities to pick up a ball and a bat for the first time," he said.
"And who knows, any one of these junior cricketers could walk back out to the middle of Manuka Oval in the future as part of the Australian men's or women's national teams."
Six-year-old Theo Lumley and his sister Beth, 4, from Torrens enjoy playing cricket in the backyard. This has led to a love of the game with the pair playing for the Junior Blasters.
They will experience their first ever international cricket game in Canberra this week.
Oliver Briant, 5, from Isaacs, is a first-time player for the Junior Blasters. His introduction to cricket will also include joining the crowd for the Australia-England Twenty20 International.
All three are beyond excited to see their sporting heroes run out onto the field on Wednesday night.
While Theo's favourite player is English batter Alex Hales, he is sure to be cheering for his Aussie compatriots as well.
Head of Cricket ACT, Stuart Karppinen, said the numbers overall are encouraging, as the sport looks to build further on another season expected to have few disruptions.
"After two years of COVID impact, albeit less significant than winter sports, it's encouraging to see so many players returning to our game," he said.
"The growth in registered participation, the number of juniors and females of all ages playing the game and club cricket is a pleasing result."
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