Australia to host Bushfire Cricket Bash to help rebuild affected areas
Cricket Australia (CA) has decided to host a Bushfire Cricket Bash event on the day of the Big Bash T20 league final to provide relief for the bushfires devastating the people in the country. The CA has also decided to donate all profits from the Big Bash final on February 8 to the rebuild.
The final day of Australia’s premier T20 league this year will be turned into a bushfire relief fundraiser with CA committing all profits and donations from the tournament decider and a curtain-raising match between two legends teams. The legends teams will be led by Ricky Ponting and Shane Warne, with the likes of Justin Langer, Adam Gilchrist, Brett Lee, Shane Watson, Alex Blackwell, and Michael Clarke joining in. Steve Waugh and Mel Jones will be involved in a non-playing capacity.
The game will take place on the same day as the Australia-India women's T20 tri-series fixture at Junction Oval in Melbourne, which has been moved earlier in the day to avoid a scheduling clash. The bushfire relief match will be staged ahead of the final, with the venue to be determined on January 31, after the Qualifier knockout match.
"I'm delighted to confirm the Bushfire Cricket Bash will be Cricket Australia's major fundraising initiative to support Australians impacted by the recent unprecedented bushfire emergency," the CA chief executive Kevin Roberts said, reported ESPNCricinfo.
"People the world over have seen the overwhelming images of hundreds of thousands of hectares burnt, precious lives lost, hundreds of properties destroyed and the devastating loss of wildlife as a result of the fires. These images have reinforced the need to get behind organisations like the Australian Red Cross which is responding to the immediate requirements of people who have lost loved ones, their homes, and their livelihoods,” he said.
Though the idea of a fundraising game has been debated for some time, the latest decision offers the potential of a cash bonanza for relief efforts, especially if the current runaway leaders of the BBL, the Melbourne Stars, are able to set up a competition final at the MCG. During the Boxing Day tsunami charity match in January 2005, that attracted a crowd of 70,101, an amount of A$14.5 million was raised.
The charity match will add to the fundraising efforts which have included the Australia Test attack donating A$1000 for every wicket they took in the SCG Test, signed shirts from both the Test side and BBL teams and BBL players donating money for sixes hit and wickets taken. Meanwhile, the legendary leg-spinner Warne donated his baggy green after the auction last week — with Commonwealth Bank being revealed as the winning bidder at more than one million dollars.
"I'm very proud of the response not only from the Australian Cricket family but from the broader sporting industry and the community at large. It's just so humbling to see the collaboration and determination to do whatever is needed to help our fellow Australians in their time of need," Roberts said.
Meanwhile, the CA, the governing body, state and territory associations and the Australian Cricketers Association has decided to release all employees for up to three days of paid leave to undertake volunteer work in bushfire-affected areas. CA has also set-up an A$2 million community bushfire recovery fund to support affected cricket clubs and cricket communities.
"While the financial support of rebuilding is without doubt one of the best ways to contribute, we know the recovery efforts will take months beyond the fires being managed and we want to do what we can to support these communities. Our people, right across the Australian Cricket family including all States and Territories and the ACA, can together, through this initiative provide more than 4000 days of volunteering to assist wherever they are needed," Roberts added.
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