He was selected in the Prime Ministers XI to play the West Indies. According to a contemporary report, "O'Donnell's selection is a timely one as his name has been cropping up regularly in discussions on Australian teams and it will be no surprise if he is selected to play in the one-day series in the New Year. As well as being a more than useful medium-pace bowler O'Donnell has the potential to be a leading batsman, having scored a hard-hitting century against Western Australia in Perth last week."