WORCESTERSHIRE fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar will join some of the world's finest cricketers in two benefit matches for the tsunami victims.
The games will be played between a World XI and Asian XI to raise funds for victims of the Boxing Day disaster, which has left more than 150,000 dead.
Akhtar, the fastest bowler in the world, has signed for Worcestershire and will begin playing for the club in the summer.
Nicknamed the Rawalpindi Express, he will line up for the Asian side against a previous county favourite, Australia's Glenn McGrath, who enjoyed two seasons at New Road.
The first of the games will be played at Melbourne, Australia, on Monday.
The second will be in February, in India or Sri Lanka - the two Test-playing nations to have suffered the worst of the tsunami.
Other star names lining up include West Indies ace Brian Lara, India's Sachin Tendulkar, Shane Warne, from Australia, and Sri Lankan Muttiah Muralitharan.
The only English player in the World XI squad is Essex's Darren Gough.
England's Test squad, currently touring South Africa, donated £15,000 to the appeal last week.
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