SUMMER has started and so has the international cricketing summer. Bring it on!

Each summer, I block out my diary for at least the first session of the first Test match. I’ll plonk myself in front of a big TV somewhere and lap up the action.

Does that make me a cricket tragic? Yeah, I guess it does.

That first session is so important. It can set the pattern for the entire summer. I’m thinking of all of those summers when Glen McGrath took the new pill on that first day in Brisbane and came steaming in from the Vulture Street end. My heart’s racing now just thinking about it.

We’ve got the Kiwis first up in a short, two-Test  series this summer,  followed by India.

And Canberra fans are in for an absolute feast of first-class cricket at Manuka Oval.

We’ve scored the interstate one day fixture between NSW and Tasmania on Sunday, December 4, to be followed by the Sheffield Shield clash between the same two sides starting on Tuesday, December 6.

But there’s more. The Indians come to town mid-December. Canberra is the place where they will prepare for their assault on our national team. Canberra has been blessed with not just one, but two tour matches between India and a Chairman’s XI. These will be the only tour games for India ahead of the Boxing Day Test. Canberra’s cricket tragics are so excited that they won’t sleep between now and then!

And don’t forget the Prime Minister’s XI. The PM’s XI game is on February 3. Sri Lanka is the visiting side and, as always, it’ll be a belter of a game.

See you at the cricket.

Mark Parton is the breakfast announcer at 2CC.