CRICKET: It's Australia v the Rest of the World
By ROBERT CRADDOCK

AUSTRALIAN cricket has landed a coup by winning the right to host a series against a Rest of the World side next year. Sydney will host a one-off Test between Australia and the Rest of the World from October 13-18 while Melbourne's Telstra Dome will host three one-day matches on October 5, 7 and 9. Australia defeated bids from India and South Africa to land cricket's Super Series. Super stars Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara are expected to spearhead the visiting team and a likely invitee is champion Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan who has boycotted the current Sri Lankan tour of Australia for personal reasons. As the world's leading Test wicket-taker and highest-profile spinner, Muralitharan will be one of the first names chosen and the series may well be the last chance Australian audiences have to see him live.

Other players certain to be in contention are the world's fastest bowler, Pakistan's Shoaib Akhtar, and outstanding South African allrounder Jacques Kallis. The Rest of the World side will be one of the finest teams ever assembled. The series will be beamed to live audiences all around the cricketing globe and the substantial profits will be used to help developing nations. Australia is not yet a confirmed participant in the series because the International Cricket Council has decided on an April 1 cut-off point before awarding the honour to the side placed number one in its official rankings. But Australia is so far ahead on both ladders it could lose form over the next nine months and still finish on top.

The last time an Australian side hosted an official Rest of the World team was in the summer of 1971-72, when international stars such as Garfield Sobers, Zaheer Abbas, Tony Greig, Rohan Kanhai and Clive Lloyd took on Ian Chappell's Australians. The Test match will be held over six days to maximise the chance of a result but will not be given official Test status. The series will be held every four years and ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed said he was excited by its potential. The ICC will choose an elite group of former Test players to select the Rest of the World Test and one-day squads.




As good as the Australian Cricket team is, I reckon we'll probably get thrashed. What do you guys think?