Melbourne: Australian cricket legends Shane Warne, Adam Gilchrist and Ricky Ponting are set to team up once again for an exhibition cricket match in December.
According to Cricket Australia website, Perth Scorchers will begin their KFC T20 Big Bash League title defence with an exhibition match at Aquinas College in Perth on December 10 against an Australian Legends team featuring the trio and the likes of Matthew Hayden, Andy Bichel and Michael Kasprowicz.
The last time Warne and Gilchrist played together was in the Lord's bicentennial match in July, but the master leg-spinner was unable to bowl after sustaining a fracture due to a Brett Lee beamer.
Gilchrist, Australia's most successful wicketkeeper, was shattered when he could not keep to Warne at the home of cricket, but now has another opportunity to play with the king of spin.
"Keeping to Warnie again was one of the main reasons that I agreed to play in that match at Lord's and I was incredibly disappointed when he couldn't bowl," said Gilchrist.
"The highlight of my career was keeping to him and I am glad that I will get another chance this summer," he said.
The organisers are hoping the match becomes an annual event after the traditional Lilac Hill fixture, for many years the first tour game for travelling countries, was abandoned in 2009. Gilchrist said the match should provide a solid hit out for the BBL defending champions Scorchers, and hopes the festival game delivers just as much entertainment off the field as it will on it.
Scorchers coach Justin Langer, currently in India preparing his side for its first Oppo Champions League Twenty20 game, said the match will be a great experience for his players ahead of the Big Bash. "It's a great opportunity for the Scorchers to get back into playing Twenty20 cricket after the one-dayers and Sheffield Shield. It's also an unbelievable opportunity for our players to play against guys like Ricky Ponting and Shane Warne," he said.
