KP, Lee, Murali confirmed for Lord's festivities

Cricket365
April 4, 2014

The Rest of the World XI vs MCC XI exhibition match at Lord's in early July will feature former England batsman Kevin Pietersen, it has been confirmed, but he will play for the ROW side and not the 'home' team.

Former Australia paceman Brett Lee was also confirmed for the game, playing for the MCC, while Sri Lanka legend Muttiah Muralitharan will play alongside Pietersen under the leadership of fellow spin king Shane Warne.

Warne and Pietersen used to play alongside each other for Hampshire in 2007 and have remained firm friends, while Lee was granted MCC honourary membership last year.

Lee said: "I was very proud to have been given MCC Honorary Life Membership last year and it will be a pleasure to help the Club celebrate the Lord's Bicentenary by playing in this match.

"Lord's is a great place to play cricket and this is a fantastic opportunity for me. There are a lot of familiar faces involved in both teams and I'm looking forward to celebrating such a special occasion with them."

Muralitharan added: "It's a great honour to have been asked to take part in this historic fixture, and I can't wait to get back to Lord's for the match.

"I thoroughly enjoyed playing for MCC in the UAE recently and it's very exciting to be involved with the Club again."

Pietersen said: "I was delighted to be asked to be involved in this game and the chance to share the Lord's pitch with some of best players in the world is one I was delighted to accept.

Shane Warne is a good friend of mine and I've enjoyed playing alongside him before so I'm sure it'll be great fun to do it again. Playing at Lord's is always very special and I'm looking forward to celebrating the 200th anniversary of what is a fantastic ground."

MCC Head of Cricket, John Stephenson, said of the three confirmed signings: "We are very pleased to confirm that Brett, Kevin and Muttiah will be playing in this match.

"It is testament to the status of Lord's as the Home of Cricket that such quality players are keen to come and celebrate its Bicentenary with MCC, and we look forward to welcoming them back to the ground alongside the raft of world-class players we have already confirmed for this match."