Indian batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar and West Indies fast-bowling legend Courtney Walsh will coach the Ponting XI and Warne XI respectively for the Bushfire Cricket Bash which is all set to be played on February 8. The bushfire relief cricket match is one of the great acts on the cricket’s day of giving ‘The Big Appeal’ with Sachin Tendulkar and Walsh joining former players of the two sides.

“We are absolutely honoured to be welcoming Sachin and Courtney back to Australia, where they both enjoyed a lot of success as players, and we can’t wait to have them involved in what is going to be a special day,” said Kevin Roberts, Cricket Australia Chief Executive Officer.

“Both in the ICC Hall of Fame, Sachin is the greatest run-scorer of all time in international cricket, and we all remember what Courtney could do with the ball, taking more than 500 Test wickets. We’re looking forward to our people at CA and the entire Australian cricket family coming together for the Big Appeal,” he furthr added.

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However, the charity match will be the curtain-raiser to the Big Bash final on February 8, although the venue yet to be decided. Both matches, as well as Australia’s women’s T20 match against India at Junction Oval, will be played on the same day.

Former Australian cricketers who have confirmed to play includes – Ricky Ponting, Shane Warne, Justin Langer, Adam Gilchrist, Brett Lee, Shane Watson, Alex Blackwell and Michael Clarke. On the other hand, Steve Waugh and Mel Jones will be there in a non-playing capacity. The rest of the players and further details about The Big Appeal will be announced soon.

All match profits and funds raised on that day will go to the Australian Red Cross Disaster Relief and Recovery Fund.