India, Aussie players for earthquake relief fund match

All the current Indian and Australian cricketers will take part in the Siyaram's Cup, a one day cricket match between India and Australia to be played at the MA Chidambaram stadium on March 23. The timings for the match are 3 pm to 6 pm and 6.45 to 9.45 pm.

Giving details of the match at a press conference on Friday, AC Muthiah, president, Board of Control for Cricket in India and Ashok Kumbhat, secretary, Tamil Nadu Cricket Association said the 40 overs day/night game is being sponsored by the Siyaram Group in aid of the earthquake victims in Gujarat.

Muthiah said that when he was in Melbourne for the ICC meeting last month, he had discussions with Australian Cricket Board officials about the feasibility of the Aussie team playing a game in India for the earthquake relief fund. He was happy that the ACB had agreed to the proposal and the match was now becoming a reality.

The Board President added he would not like to hazard a guess as to the figure but expressed confidence that a `substantial' amount would be collected through ads, in stadia hoardings and gate collections. The match will be telecast live on Doordarshan national network. Also present at the Press Conference were the Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly and the Australian manager Steve Bernard, who both said they were happy to be playing the game for a good cause.