Cricket Australia have announced that legends Sachin Tendulkar & Courtney Walsh will coach teams led by Ricky Ponting & Shane Warne in the upcoming Bushfire Cricket Bash. The match scheduled for February 8th will also feature the likes of Justin Langer, Adam Gilchrist, Brett Lee, Shane Watson, Alex Blackwell and Michael Clarke.
Former Australia Skipper Ponting took to Twitter to welcome Sachin Tendulkar while taking a cheeky dig at his counterpart Shane Warne. “How great is it to have @sachin_rt taking part in the Bushfire Cricket Bash and giving up his time to come out for the cause. Picked the right team to coach too,” Ricky Ponting tweeted.
Cricket Australia Chief Executive Officer, Kevin Roberts, said “We are absolutely honoured to be welcoming Sachin and Courtney back to Australia where they both enjoyed a lot of success as players, and we can’t wait to have them involved in what is going to be a special day. Both in the ICC Hall of Fame, Sachin is the greatest run-scorer of all time in international cricket, and we all remember what Courtney could do with the ball, taking more than 500 Test wickets. We’re looking forward to our people at CA and the entire Australian cricket family coming together for the Big Appeal.”
The funds collected from the match will be donated to the Australian Red Cross Disaster Relief and Recovery Fund. The recent bushfire disaster caused a lot of damage & this match is Cricket fraternity’s way of contributing to the relief cause. Earlier this month, Warne’s “baggy green” cap, awarded to him on his Test debut, was sold at auction for more than A$ 1 million with all funds aiding victims.
The bushfire relief match will take place ahead of the Big Bash final with the venue to be confirmed on January 31 after the Qualifier is played with the winning team hosting the finale. Ahead of the double-header, the Australia and India women’s teams will play their tri-series match in Melbourne, and it could be the city that would host the trio of games if the Melbourne Stars secure the BBL final berth.
