Star-studded charity cricket match to raise funds for bushfire victims loses its biggest drawcard as Shane Warne pulls out - as it's moved to Melbourne because of Sydney's rain bomb
- Cricket Australian said on Wednesday it was cancelling its bushfire fundraiser
- It hoped to save the The Big Bash League final from being rained out
- The match has now been rescheduled for Sunday at Melbourne's Junction Oval
Cricket Australia's bushfire relief match has been rescheduled for Sunday at Melbourne's Junction Oval but Shane Warne now won't take part.
The charity game was slated to be played between teams captained by greats Warne and Ricky Ponting as a curtain-raiser for Saturday's BBL final at the SCG.
But the last-minute shift, which comes amid a forecast of up to 55mm of rain in Sydney on Saturday, has resulted in the omission of Warne and other big names that had signed up for the fundraising clash.
Warne and other late scratchings from the all-star contest, a list that is believed to include Michael Clarke, had already locked in other commitments for Sunday.
Cricket Australia's bushfire relief match has been rescheduled for Sunday at Melbourne's Junction Oval but Shane Warne now won't take part. Pictured is Shane Warne and Ricky Ponting who were set to captain the charity teams
The governing body, having mulled over several contingency measures and worked the phones furiously over the past 24 hours, is expected to confirm its new arrangements late on Thursday afternoon.
The charity game is expected to take place after the women's Twenty20 between Australia and England, with final times yet to be revealed.
Share this article
Ponting seemingly remains a certain starter, having posted a clip of himself batting in the nets on social media as CA continued to finalise arrangements on Thursday, while Adam Gilchrist is expected to captain the other side in the absence of Warne.
Some of the sport's biggest names agreed to play the fundraising fixture, including Justin Langer, Wasim Akram and Yuvraj Singh, while Indian icon Sachin Tendulkar and West Indies legend Courtney Walsh signed up to coach.
Other stars attending included Adam Gilchrist, Holly Ferling, Alex Blackwell, Matthew Hayden, Brett Lee and Phoebe Litchfield.
The event was highly anticipated, with eager cricket fans snapping up almost 20,000 tickets to the event within 24 hours of going on sale.
The match boasted several big name stars Holly Ferling (right), Brett Lee, Matthew Hayden and Ricky Ponting (left). With the double-headed event selling almost 20,000 tickets in 24 hours
Moving the much-anticipated match, designed to give Saturday's BBL final the best possible chance of proceeding, created several logistical hurdles.
There remains the prospect of rain in Melbourne on Sunday, but not nearly as much as that forecast for Sydney.
The MCG will be vacant and boasts a bigger capacity than Junction's 7,000 but setting up separate broadcast arrangements at both venues on short notice proved infeasible.
The most obvious challenge was that the charity game features several commentators from both Fox Sports and the Seven Network, with Warne and Ponting headlining not only the original bushfire-relief XIs but their respective network's BBL coverage.
Early reports suggested the new charity game would be staged in Melbourne on Saturday but the BBL final starts at 7.15pm that night in Sydney, meaning both networks' commentary teams would have been depleted.
Just hours before the announcement Ponting shared a selfie with batting legend Brian Lara as they prepared to hit the pitch
Comments 0
Share what you think
No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards.
