Australia looking forward to ICC World XI challenge

Australian captain Ricky Ponting and Cricket Australia Chief Executive Officer James Sutherland today welcomed the announcement of the final ICC World XI squads for the Johnnie Walker Super Series beginning in 43 days time.

"It will be an amazing experience to play against a side of this calibre and I think for those players in the World XI, it will be an equally exciting prospect to play in a team alongside the game's greats," said Ponting.

"No doubt the Australian public is talking about the tight Ashes battle that we're currently in, and hopefully, that can whet people's appetites for even more great cricket in October.

"We've spent some time on the bus journeys around England, trying to predict the World XI. There's no doubt that this is a highly impressive line-up."

Mr Sutherland said Australia was ready to stage the world-class event: "This is the biggest cricket event Australia has staged since the 1992 World Cup, and it's a chance for Australia to welcome the world to our doorstep and show what cricket means to us as a nation.

"This is the ultimate sporting contest - the best team in the world against a team of the world's best players.

"The ICC World XI is a star-studded line-up and we are looking forward to seeing how Australia's challenge against the ICC World XI will unfold.

"We have seen over the past month or so the intense excitement and interest that surrounds a genuine contest between two evenly matched teams.

"England is challenging Australia - and we are going to see the likes of Andrew Flintoff, Steve Harmison and Kevin Pietersen taking them on again in October at the Johnnie Walker Super Series.

"This is a world-class event and Australian cricket is proud to play host, and we believe it will be something that fans will talk about for years to come, just as they fondly recall the 1977 Centenary Test and the 1971-72 Rest of the World Series."

Australia will name its final squad of 13 players for the six-day Super Test, and 14 members for the one-day international series at the conclusion of the Ashes Series mid-September.