MELBOURNE–Legendary former West Indies batsman Brian Lara will join Adam Gilchrist, Dean Jones, Justin Langer and other Australian legends in the Western Australia Festival of Cricket Twenty20 exhibition match which bowls off today.
The Western Australia Festival of Cricket, held at Aquinas College in Perth's southern suburbs, has revived the famous Lilac Hill Festival match that finished in 2008.
Lara and the star-studded Legends XI will play a T20 exhibition match against KFC T20 Big Bash League side the Perth Scorchers.
"The Festival of Cricket presents the public and corporates with a unique opportunity to not only watch a high-quality T20 match in a relaxed, social environment, but also to mix and mingle with many current and past greats of the game," Gilchrist said.
"The chance to run around with a bunch of old mates and pit ourselves against the current BBL Champions is exciting and sure to be entertaining for all."
The 45-year-old Lara, the most dominant West Indies batsman of his era, will take to the field alongside several Aussie players he faced during his illustrious career, with the likes of former all-rounder Andrew Symonds, Andy Bichel, Michael Kasprowicz and Jimmy Maher already confirmed by organisers.
Lara featured in 131 Tests for West Indies, scoring a record 11 953 runs with 34 100s.
The reshuffle of the Australian cricket schedule in the wake of the death of Phillip Hughes also affected the match.
The date change has ruled out Shane Warne and Ricky Ponting, and left Matthew Hayden juggling commitments in an attempt to make it. (CMC)