Game on: Global stars sign up for unique COVID fundraiser

Some of the biggest names in world cricket will swap their bat and ball for a video game controller on Thursday night as they aim to raise $100,000 for UNICEF Australia's India COVID-19 Crisis Appeal.

The brainchild of Big Bash paceman Josh Lalor, fans will get to watch the likes of England star Jofra Archer as well as Aussie bowlers Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Starc and Josh Hazlewood on a live stream as they talk cricket and show their wares as gamers.

From 5pm AEST on Thursday night until 5am AEST the following morning, Lalor will be joined by a rotation of some of the biggest names in the game, with Moises Henriques, Alyssa Healy, Sean Abbott, Jhye Richardson and South African Rilee Rossouw to also take part.

Lalor will even host an informal discussion with Cricket Australia's new CEO, Nick Hockley, alongside Todd Greenberg, the CEO of the Australian Cricketers' Association.

The global pandemic has led to an explosion in the popularity of online gaming, including amongst cricketers, who have had plenty of spare time in quarantine and bio-secure bubbles over the past 12 months.

Lalor says the 12-hour live stream on his Twitch page will allow fans to see some of the best cricketers in the world in a more relaxed setting and raise money for an important cause.

"The enjoyable thing about it is it'll be a couple of guys doing what they do in their spare time, which the public don’t get to see a lot of," Lalor told cricket.com.au.

"We see Pat Cummins doing what he does on the cricket field, but he's one of the worst (video game) players you can play with! Which is fair enough because he's busy doing other things in cricket.

"Nathan Lyon is someone I play with quite a bit and he absolutely loves it. He probably doesn't play enough to get better but plays enough to get frustrated that he's not very good, and it makes for an entertaining mix.

"The intent will be to be playing games, but also talk a bit of cricket as well. It'll be a nice way to engage and see a different side to these guys."

Popular games like Warzone and Rocket League will feature, but some players have opted for a different approach. Lalor and Healy will play a light-hearted, interactive game of 'Siblings or Dating?', a concept made famous by an Instagram page that has 1.2 million followers, while Henriques has challenged Lalor to some games of chess, which has also enjoyed a recent surge in popularity thanks to the Netflix series, The Queen's Gambit.

Lalor is also excited about talking cricket with Hockley and Greenberg, even though he admits having two of the most powerful administrators in Australian cricket take part was never his intention.

"It's exploded a bit and got a bit big on me," he said with a chuckle. "Initially it was just going to be me having a laugh with some mates on my own, but now it's been amplified tremendously.

"I thought it'd be great for those guys (Hockley and Greenberg) to sit back and talk cricket with the public in a way they're not used to. It'll be a great opportunity for them to portray a slightly different message to the cricketing public.

"I'm more than comfortable talking about the game of cricket with those guys. It might have been a bit different when the relationship between CA and the ACA was a bit frostier – I might have had to have a referee’s shirt on – but at the moment I think the game is headed in a really good direction."

Lalor's idea was inspired in April by Cummins' donation of $50,000 to UNICEF Australia's Appeal and he says all donations, no matter how small, will help those impacted by the ongoing health crisis.

The 33-year-old says a shared love and passion of the game means he and all Australian cricketers have a special bond with Indian people and he was compelled to help during the crisis, which has officially claimed more than 330,000 Indian lives.

"Being a cricketer from Australia, we have a unique relationship with Indian people," he said.

"It's a beautiful part of the world, they're absolutely cricket mad and they bend over backwards to make every cricketer feel welcomed and accommodated.

"If we're able to raise any money at all to help what's going on in India, that'll go a long way."

Australian Cricket has so far raised more than $280,000 as part of UNICEF Australia's India COVID-19 Crisis Appeal.

Join Josh Lalor on his Twitch page from 5pm AEST on Thursday as Australian cricket unites to raise money for UNICEF's India COVID-19 Crisis Appeal