12 January 2005	Wednesday	01 Zilhaj 1425

WELLINGTON, Jan 11: Cricket's two greatest wicket takers, Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan, are to team up for a one-day series between New Zealand and a World XI to raise funds for Asian tsunami relief efforts , New Zealand Cricket said on Tuesday.

The three matches later this month were hastily arranged after Sri Lanka cancelled their tour of New Zealand in December after the tsunamis devastated their homeland.

In addition to releasing players for the World XI, Sri Lanka will return to New Zealand in April to play the two Test matches originally scheduled for this month, New Zealand Cricket (NZC) chief executive Martin Snedden said.

The one-day series has been arranged in conjunction with the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations so the combined team will be known as the FICA World XI.

It will be captained by Australian spin bowler Warne, who will play all three matches along with Sri Lanka's spin wizard Muralitharan, while the rest of the line up will vary slightly depending on player availability for each game.

"It will be exciting to see these two rival bowlers working in tandem in what should be closely fought matches," Snedden said. Retired South African Jonty Rhodes will be player coach with Sri Lankan Sanath Jayasuriya as vice-captain.

Ten players available for all three matches are Warne, Muralitharan, Jayasuriya, Rhodes, retired Zimababwe wicket keeper-batsman Andy Flower, retired England batsman Graeme Hick, Sri Lankan wicket keeper-batsman Kumar Sangakkara, Australian All rounder Ian Harvey, Zimbabwe pace bowler Heath Streak and Sri Lankan pace bowler Chaminda Vaas.

Available for the first two games are England batsman Nick Knight and South African all rounder Lance Klusener, while games two and three could involve Australian opening batsman Matthew Elliot and Australian pace bowler Andy Bichel.

Former Australian one-day specialist Michael Bevan and Australia's opening batsman Justin Langer are available for the third match only. Snedden said funds raised from the tour would be distributed to Sri Lanka Cricket's "Cricket-Aid" programme and to World Vision.

"Given the devastating effect of the tsunami on Sri Lanka and Asia, as well as the inclusion of Sri Lankans in the FICA 11, it is appropriate that NZC further supports international efforts by cricketing countries to help raise funds for tsunami victims," he said.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka's abandoned tour of New Zealand has been rescheduled for April. New Zealand Cricket officials announced on Tuesday that two tests would be played from April 4-8 and 11-15 at venues still to be decided. The Tests were originally scheduled to take place this month but were postponed because of the south Asian tsunami disaster.

The Sri Lankans were already in New Zealand when the tsunami struck on Dec 26 and had played the first of five scheduled one-day matches when the tour was called off. New Zealand Cricket chief executive Martin Snedden said the four remaining one-day games would be held in December this year.

He also announced the Kiwis would host three one-day matches later this month against a Rest of the World team captained by Australia leg spinner Shane Warne to raise money for tsunami victims. The games will be held in Christchurch on Jan 22, Wellington on Jan 24 and Hamilton on Jan 26.

"We decided it was something we could have a real crack at instead of spending two weeks down in the dumps about the fact that the cricket season had been so badly affected," Snedden said.

REST OF THE WORLD SQUAD: Shane Warne (Australia, captain), Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka), Andy Flower (Zimbabwe), Nick Knight (England), Graeme Hick (England), Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka), Ian Harvey (Australia), Lance Klusener (South Africa), Heath Streak (Zimbabwe), Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka), Chaminda Vaas (Sri Lanka), Matthew Elliott (Australia), Andy Bichel (Australia), Michael Bevan (Australia), Justin Langer (Australia), Jonty Rhodes (South Africa, player/coach). -Reuters