This match was played between the members of the Australian contracted players prior to the Limited Over squad leaving for Sri Lanka. The day was fine and sunny though a cool breeze came across the ground and the umpires soon called for their sweaters. Hayden began with an on drive for three from the first ball of the match and Slater then cut the next to the boundary just backward of point. Runs came at a good rate until the eleventh over when Dale was introduced while Moody came on next over, both bowling steadily and keeping the batsmen watchful. Hayden was playing quite firmly but Slater seemed astray with his timing and it was not until he had been at the crease for some two hours that he really middled the ball with consistency. The dismissal of Hayden brought some further quick wickets. Symonds and Katich both hit the ball well. Warne used the occasion to loosen up and put in a quite good spell of bowling.

When Waugh’s team batted Gilchrist took second place for a time but later hit well. However as an opener he would be most unlikely to succeed at Test level as has often been suggested, though he performs the role well at One Day level. At one time it seemed Waugh’s team could well be beaten but Steve Waugh and Bevan recovered the situation. Moody, wearing a McGrath shirt causing confusion amongst the spectators, was as usual somewhat scratchy at first but later settled in to play some firm shots. In the end Bevan and Lee carried their team to victory with just three balls remaining.

Obviously with a number of players seeking to impress for a position in the Australian team, particularly for the One Day Internationals, the match was played fairly competitively. However a good spirit existed between the players of both teams throughout the day. The day was a great public relations exercise with all players being quite willing to sign autographs and posing with both young and old alike for photographs. The match was not well publicised and at no time would the spectators around the ground have been more than about three or four hundred.

Twenty-four players contracted to the Australian Cricket Board were in attendance and each team was of twelve players, though only eleven would bat, the match being played to the rules of the Australian One Day competition.

© 1999 CricInfo