May 7, 2003	Wednesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 4, 1424

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MELBOURNE, May 6: Australia’s 199 living Test cricketers will be honoured at a reunion dinner in Sydney in July, Australian Cricket Board (ACB) chief executive James Sutherland said on Tuesday.

Each player will receive a commemorative baggy green cap and the older players will be issued with their own official Test numbers. Players began wearing their official numbers on shirts and caps in the 1990s.

The July 11 function is a joint initiative of the ACB and the Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA) to reunite Australia’s Test players.

“The 385 players who have worn the baggy green cap have collectively contributed to a sporting tradition that in turn has helped develop our distinctive Australian national culture,” Sutherland said in a statement.

“When selected to represent Australia for the first time, players receive a baggy green cap and an allocated Test cap number which becomes part of their identity. In recent times, there has been strong interest in the number which now appears on each player’s shirt.”

The most-recently capped and 385th Australia Test player was Queensland batsman Martin Love against England in the 2002-03 home Ashes series.

Australia’s oldest living Test cricketer, 90-year-old Bill Brown, was the 150th player selected to represent Australia when he made his debut against England at Trent Bridge in 1934.—Reuters/AFP