Mike Hussey to captain Prime Minister's XI against England at Manuka Oval, Canberra

Mike Hussey will captain the Prime Minister’s XI against England

Sydney, Nov 20 - Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, on Thursday, officially launched the Prime Minister's XI which will play against England at the Manuka Oval, where it was announced that former Australian cricketer Mike Hussey will captain the team.

The match will be played on January 14, four days before England's opening match of the Carlton Mid One-Day International (ODI) tri-series.

Hussey played 79 Tests for Australia from 2005 to 2013 and 185 ODIs from 2004 to 2012.

In a stellar international career, Hussey made 6,235 Test runs at 51.52, including 19 centuries, and 5,442 ODI runs at an astonishing average of 48.15.

"It's a tremendous honour to be selected to captain the Prime Minister's XI," said Hussey in a release.

"Having played in the Prime Minister's XI before, I know how important this fixture is on the Australian cricketing calendar, and it is a great tradition. In the past two years Ricky Ponting and Brett Lee have been captains of the team, so it's humbling to follow in the footsteps of two icons of Australian cricket."

The rest of the team will also be selected by Cricket Australia's (CA) National Selection Panel (NSP) with inputs from the Prime Minister, and will be announced in the coming weeks.

Cricket Australia (CA) Chief Executive Officer James Sutherland said he was looking forward to the fixture and congratulated Hussey on the captaincy.

"Congratulations to Mike on his appointment as captain. He has been a fine ambassador for Australian cricket and I've no doubt he will lead the Prime Minister's XI team with distinction," Sutherland said.