Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara and Ricky Ponting to feature in cricket’s version of Live Aid at Adelaide Oval in December
Some of the game’s greatest players including Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, Brian Lara and Muttiah Muralitharan will combine at Adelaide Oval for cricket’s version of Live Aid later this year.
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Legendary quartet Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, Brian Lara and Muttiah Muralitharan will headline cricket’s version of Live Aid with Adelaide Oval hosting a global Twenty20 blockbuster on December 5.
Powerhouse T20 franchise Mumbai Indians will play their first game outside the subcontinent at a packed Adelaide Oval as the game’s greatest combine for Peace at the Crease.
The inaugural Peace at the Crease match will fund communities affected by Sri Lanka’s church bombings last Easter and Christchurch mosque attack in March.
The scheduled T20 clash under lights will be beamed to an expected 400 million viewers worldwide and is the brainchild of renowned South Australian Cricket Association chief executive Keith Bradshaw and Commonwealth Secretary General Rt Hon Patricia Scotland QC.
Former Marylebone Cricket Club secretary Bradshaw wasn’t in a position to comment when contacted by The Advertiser but confirmed “an event of major significance” was planned for Adelaide Oval later this year.
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In a major coup for organisers ‘Little Master’ Tendulkar is booked to skipper Mumbai in a rare public appearance. Ponting, ‘Mr Cricket’ Mike Hussey, South Africans Herschelle Gibbs, Shaun Pollock, Indian pot-stirrer Harbhajan Singh, firebrands Mitchell Johnson, Shane Bond and Sri Lankan slinger Lasith Malinga represent a unit stacked with legends.
Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara will lead a SACA legends side featuring West Indian dasher Lara, all-time leading Test wicket-taker Muralitharan, iconic allrounder Wasim Akram, Brett Lee and New Zealand’s Daniel Vettori. Former Australian speedsters Jason Gillespie, ‘Wild Thing’ Shaun Tait and Greg Blewett add local flavour to the line-up.
Cricket also rallied for the greater good in 2005’s Tsunami appeal match at the MCG which raised millions in relief aid. Ponting, Lara and Tendulkar featured in the Asia v rest of the World clash.
The Peace at the Crease match means cricket will again do more to promote South Australia than a major events arm could manage.
Australia will host Pakistan in a day-night Test from November 29 to December 3 at Adelaide Oval but two days later Peace at the Crease adds much needed star power to the 2019-20 international calendar.
Touring sides New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka traditionally pull lower crowds so Peace at the Crease loom as a welcome addition in a summer where there is no one-day series during January.
The 53 Commonwealth Heads of Government, along with a cavalcade of high net-worth Indian celebrities, are expected to be present at the game, underlining its significance in promoting peace and building communities during uncertain global times.
Bradshaw who pioneered day-night Test cricket and production of a pink ball is cricket’s answer to music’s Bob Geldof. Boasting an unrivalled contact book, former Tasmanian allrounder Bradshaw is organising the groundbreaking cricket charity project which could span a decade.
It is understood Peace at the Crease will become an annual event in Adelaide following massive global awareness generated by the December opener then extend to other countries including England and Bangladesh. Live Aid’s 1985 concert to relieve famine in Africa was accompanied by charity concerts around the globe.
Tendulkar retired after his 200th Test in 2013 and remains the highest run-scorer with 15,921 runs at 53.78. Maestro Tendulkar has only played for an MCC side against the Rest of the World in 2014 and three exhibition T20s since exiting the game he dominated from a 1989 debut.