Cricket puts on a show to aid tsunami victims

A billion of us may have been watching it on TV all over the globe, from England to South Africa to New Zealand. Just a game of cricket, that was all it was, but in an age for professional sport where greed and selfishness are supposed to be driving forces, might this just have represented sport's finest hour?

They lined up at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, heads bowed, 24 of the world's finest cricketers united by sorrow, selflessness and purpose in front of 80,000 fans all immaculately observing a minute's silence for the victims of the tsunami disaster. Then they went out to put on a show which may go down as sport's very own Live Aid moment.

It was the day when, in world cricket's busiest period, one of the finest cast lists the game has ever seen assembled on one field; dropped everything to come together for a common cause, offering their services for free to raise millions towards rebuilding hope and lives in the devastated areas.

It used to be rock and showbusiness stars who would lead the way in response to crises. This time, though, whether it be Michael Schumacher pledging $10million of his own fortune or Premiership football clubs raising a million pounds between them, it is sport's response, widespread and truly global, which has staggered most, surpassing anything that we have seen before.

At the forefront was cricket, a sport bereft at what had befallen countries where it was always treated as more than just a game. Now the 'greatest game in the world', as the Australian Prime Minister John Howard called it after performing today's toss, seemed determined to repay its disciples.

No modern day Kerry Packer could have promoted a contest like this. Two dream teams; Asia v the World. Anil Kumble v Ricky Ponting, Shane Warne v Sourav Ganguly, Muttiah Muralitharan (right) v Brian Lara, Darren Gough v Virender Sehwag. Heck, here was a game where World XI coach Steve Waugh could afford to bat Matthew Hayden at eight!

Astonishingly, it was a game which took just 12 days to set up, stage and screen to 122 nations. "It shouldn't take one freak act of nature to realise how generous we can be," Adam Gilchrist had said on the eve of the game. That generosity, from this single game, could stretch to £5m in everything from gate receipts to internet auctions for signed shirts.

Sky's coverage began here in Britain at 3am with the cricket studded by constant appeals for donations from viewers, including one from Sachin Tendulkar. The game's biggest idol was not fit enough to play but jetted in from India just to trot out to do a bit of fielding. Warne, who quit one-day internationals two years ago, came out of retirement to play while Gough flew to the other end of the earth just to be England's representative.