Australia captain Ricky Ponting won the toss and elected to bat first on Wednesday in the opening Super Series limited-overs international against the World XI.
Number-one-ranked Australia are playing combined world line-ups in three indoor one-day matches at Melbourne’s Docklands stadium this week and a six-day Super Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground starting on October 14.
Simon Katich was expected to open for Australia with Adam Gilchrist, replacing Matthew Hayden, who was dropped for the limited-overs series.
Cameron White, the 22-year-old Victoria leg-spinner, was named as Australia’s super sub.
Under new rules being trialled by the International Cricket Council in this series, each team will be allowed a tactical substitution, or super sub, at any time during the match — allowing the 12th man to bat and bowl.
Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi was super sub for the World XI.
On-field umpires will also be allowed to refer all decisions, including lbw and catch appeals, to a TV umpire.
Nine of the 12 players selected in the World XI squad for Wednesday’s match have scored Test centuries, giving the combined team the upper hand against Australia’s depleted bowling attack.
Andrew Flintoff, player of the series in England’s 2-1 Ashes triumph over Australia last month, is expected to bat behind Virender Sehwag, Kumar Sangakkara, Rahul Dravid, Brian Lara, Jacques Kallis and Kevin Pietersen.
With World XI skipper Shaun Pollock and Daniel Vettori expected to come in at numbers eight and nine, the only tail-enders in the combined squad are Pakistani pace man Shoaib Akhtar and Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan. — Sapa-AP
Line-ups
Australia: Adam Gilchrist, Simon Katich, Ricky Ponting (captain), Damien Martyn, Michael Hussey, Michael Clarke, Shane Watson, Andrew Symonds, Brett Lee, Glenn McGrath, Nathan Bracken. Super sub: Cameron White.
World XI: Virender Sehwag, Kumar Sangakkara, Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis, Brian Lara, Kevin Pietersen, Andrew Flintoff, Shaun Pollock (captain), Daniel Vettori, Muttiah Muralitharan, Shoaib Akhtar. Super sub: Shahid Afridi.