QUEANBEYAN and Canberra are playing host to a number of international one day cricket matches between defence force squads hailing from Australia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Fiji, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
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The International Defence Cricket Challenge began on November 16 and is the fourth of its kind in the region, with previous tournaments being played in 2007, 2009 and 2012.
But for the ladies, 2015 marked the first time the women's services sides were included.
The grand finals are set to be held this weekend and will be followed by matches on Sunday between the World Defence XI selected from the tournament, and squads fielded by the Australian Cricketers Association. Included in the men's ACA squad are former locals Brad Haddin and Mark Higgs.
Lieutenant-Colonel James Brownlie, who also doubles as the vice president of the Australian Services Cricket Association said the spirit of cricket aligned with the defence ethos which included teamwork and courage.
He said while a women's competition had been on the cards for some time, there had been a number of hurdles to overcome.
"Because of the size of the Australian Defence Force, it has taken us quite some time to get women's cricket up and running, much longer than we ever wanted or anticipated," Lieutenant-Colonel Brownlie said.
"The main reason being that most of the women who have got involved with us are usually exceptional in other codes of sport.
"Given that cricket is over the summer break and the fact that a lot of them play soccer, rugby, football, and hockey, to get them away for two sports in any given year is extremely difficult.
"In 2012, we finally got the women's services cricket running as it should do with all three services represented and that's grown exponentially over the last three years involving support from Cricket Australia.
"We played against the Southern Stars team on their way to the Ashes this year and it's now culminated with our three service teams playing against three international service teams from New Zealand and the UK."
Lieutenant-Colonel Brownlie said the connection between cricket and the armed services was strong, with international services matches dating back to at least 1919 for Australian men.
The colossal size of the competition has seen Queanbeyan's Town Park pitch and the Freebody Oval being utilised, as well as ovals throughout the ACT.
"It's a big undertaking," Lieutenant Colonel Brownlie said.
"There's over 350 participants in this particular tournament and grounds all over Canberra and Queanbeyan, coming from six nations so you could imagine the organisation that had to go into that - even to get the diplomatic approvals in the first place."
The history between the defence force and cricket is a long one. Canberra's very own Kippax Centre was named after one such military man, Alan Kippax, who played alongside the likes of Donald Bradman in his post-war career.
Other former players included one-time Australian test captain, Lindsay Hassett, and the man who went down in history as one of the greatest all-rounders to ever grace the cricket pitch, Keith "Nugget" Miller.
The women's final match of the IDCC will be played today, November 27 from 2.30pm at Kippax Oval, while the men's grand final will be played on November 28 from 10am at Manuka Oval.
These grand finals will be followed by the World Defence XI matches on November 29, with the women's being played from 2pm and the mens being played from 7pm, both at Manuka Oval.
