Australian stars join Northern Territory's best to take on West Indies

Australian batting dynamo Ricky Ponting will lead Damien Fleming, Darren Berry, Michael Di Venuto, Brad Hodge, Daniel Marsh and six of the Northern Territory's finest cricketers into battle against the West Indies in an Ansett Australia one-day tour match on 14 November in Alice Springs.

The Northern Territory Cricket Association (NTCA) Invitational XI takes on a talented West Indian outfit that will be selected closer to match day. The West Indians should be faced with a challenge, with the NTCA Invitational XI keen to avenge its loss to the tourists in 1996-97.

The six Northern Territory representatives in the side are left-hand opening batsman Shaun Williams, former Australian under-19 all-rounder Ken Vowles, right-arm quicks Brett Wilson and Daniel Senior, middle-order batsman Stuart Johnstone and hard-hitting all-rounder Jarrod Wapper. Wapper is the only player from Alice Springs, the other Northern Territory players coming from Darwin.

The fixture is a rare event for Alice Springs cricket. The city has hosted only a handful of tour matches, those being against Sri Lanka, Pakistan, England A and the 1996-97 West Indies match.

The match begins at 10.30am Central Standard Time (12 midday Eastern Daylight Savings Time) at Traeger Park, Alice Springs.

NTCA Invitational XI

Ricky Ponting (Tasmania), captain
Darren Berry (Victoria)
Michael Di Venuto (Tasmania)
Damien Fleming (Victoria)
Brad Hodge (Victoria)
Stuart Johnstone (Northern Territory)
Daniel Marsh (Tasmania)
Daniel Senior (Northern Territory)
Ken Vowles (Northern Territory)
Jarrod Wapper (Northern Territory)
Shaun Williams (Northern Territory)
Brett Wilson (Northern Territory)

ACB umpire Steve Davis and Darwin's Stuart Davis will officiate in the match.