'No other way': Why Shane Warne had to withdraw from bushfire charity match
Heavy rain forecast for Sydney has played havoc with Cricket Australia’s planned Bushfire Cricket Bash, forcing them to move the fundraiser from Sydney to Melbourne.
What had been planned as a curtain raiser for the Big Bash League final in Sydney will instead be played at Melbourne’s Junction Oval, following a women’s T20 international between Australia and England.
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The last minute change in venue forced several cricket greats who had planned to take part in the match to pull out, due to either being unable to make it to Melbourne on Saturday or other prior commitments.
One of those was Shane Warne, who took to Twitter to explain why he wouldn’t be able to make it back to Melbourne in time for the charity match.
Very sad & disappointed to be missing Sunday’s cricket bash game. The reason being - I have an 8am commitment for the Mandela foundation and a walk in Capetown on Tuesday morning at 8am. No airlines can get me there in time. Happy to play if someone offers up there private plane?
— Shane Warne (@ShaneWarne) February 6, 2020
Warne gave more details about his commitments later comments to Fox Cricket.
“There’s no other way for me to get here other than leaving on Sunday afternoon unless someone out there has got a private plane”, Warne said.
“If you’ve got a private plane, hit me up.”
Former Australian wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist will replace Warne as one of two team captains, while West Indian legend Courtney Walsh will play for Gilchrist’s team, rather than coach.
Cricket fans erupt over Ricky Ponting's bat for Bushfire Bash
Cricket fans have lost the plot over the bat Ricky Ponting will apparently use in the Bushfire Bash on Sunday.
Ponting hit the nets on Thursday with West Indies legend Brian Lara ahead of the charity match in Melbourne.
The footage of Ponting and Lara carving up in the nets would normally have been enough for cricket fans to froth over.
However a photo of one of the bats Ponting was using has sent fans into meltdown.
7Cricket posted the photo on Facebook on Thursday, showing an old-school Kookaburra Ridgeback that Ponting had been using.
Ponting made the Ridgeback famous when he burst onto the international cricket scene, the mighty blade helping him accumulate a massive chunk of the 27,000 runs he scored across Tests and one-dayers.
Fans lost the plot over the throwback bat, with the Facebook post amassing over 4000 likes and 2000 comments as of Friday lunch time.
The Facebook post also said Ponting will use the bat during the game on Sunday.
