Ricky Ponting and Brian Lara took the cricket fans to a trip down the nostalgia lane during their training session for the upcoming Bushfire Cricket Bash to be played on February 9 at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
Ponting and Lara are among the several legendary cricketers who will pad up again for the charity match. Taking to his Twitter timeline, the former Australian captain posted videos of himself and the West Indian legend hitting it on the nets.
Just like riding a bike. A very slow bike. pic.twitter.com/Ba6dnHIBzO
— Ricky Ponting AO (@RickyPonting) February 6, 2020
The former cricketers were seen gearing up for the match by practicing some of their trademark shots off the deliveries from the bowling machine.
If I’m batting three on Sunday, hopefully this guy is on my team and batting four @brianlara pic.twitter.com/dsaXhJTLoU
— Ricky Ponting AO (@RickyPonting) February 6, 2020
The Bushfire Cricket Bash is one of three headline acts on the cricket’s day of giving ‘The Big Appeal’, which will also see two other cricket matches. Other than the bushfire relief match, there will be the Big Bash League final at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) and a women’s tri-series match between India and Australia at the Junction Oval in Melbourne.
All the profits raised in The Big Appeal will be donated to the Australian Red Cross Disaster Relief and Recovery Fund which will be then used for the upliftment and betterment of the people affected in the devastating bushfires which have burnt 18.6 million hectares (46 million acres; 186,000 square kilometres;) and killed 34 people.
The exhibition match will see a flurry of former international stars taking to the field. It will be a 10-overs-per-side contest with a powerplay of five overs and no bowling restrictions. The captains will be allowed to substitute batsmen in the middle of the innings.
The charity match was originally scheduled to be played on February 8 at the SCG as the curtain-raiser for the BBL 2019-20 final.
Player of the Bushfire Cricket Bash: Shane Warne (c), Ricky Ponting (c), Adam Gilchrist, Alex Blackwell, Andrew Symonds, Brad Fittler, Brad Haddin, Brett Lee, Brian Lara, Dan Christian, Nick Riewoldt, Elyse Villani, Grace Harris, Holly Ferling, Justin Langer, Luke Hodge, Matthew Hayden, Michael Clarke, Mike Hussey, Phoebe Litchfield, Shane Watson, Yuvraj Singh.
Coaches: Sachin Tendulkar, Courtney Walsh
Non-playing capacity: Steve Waugh, Mel Jones, Andrew Johns