Australian cricket greats Shane Warne, Ricky Ponting to captain star-studded teams in bushfire fundraiser game

Melbourne: Australian cricket greats Shane Warne and Ricky Ponting will captain star-studded teams in a one-off Bushfire fundraiser match, to be played on 8 February. [caption id=“attachment_7290071” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Ricky Ponting. Reuters[/caption] Cricket Australia confirmed on Sunday that an all-star T20 match will be played as a curtain-raiser to the Big Bash League (BBL) final. Among other big names, the dashing Adam Gilchrist will also feature in the charity match. The match, a bid to raise money for the victims of the devastating bushfires the country has been witnessing for a while now, will be played either in Melbourne or Sydney. Warne himself raised over 1 million Australian dollar for bushfire relief after putting his treasured baggy green up for auction. “It is going to be a huge and special day. It’s nice to be part of it,” Ponting told reporters. Spin great Warne congratulated Cricket Australia for the initiative and hoped to raise enough funds. Other Australian cricketers to join the trio of Warne, Ponting and Gilchrist are Justin Langer, Brett Lee, Shane Watson, Alex Blackwell and Michael Clarke. The legendary Steve Waugh will be involved in the game in a non-playing capacity. On the same day, the Indian women’s team will take on its Australian counterparts in a T20 World Cup clash.