Match fees donation will help victims of Queensland floods

(GETTY IMAGES)

England and Australia both donated part of their match fees from yesterday's Twenty20 international to the flood victims in Queensland. The crowd at the Adelaide Oval also raised £18,000, while Cricket Australia has confirmed that the one-day international scheduled for Brisbane later this month will go ahead.

The north-eastern state of Australia has been decimated by the still rising waters over the past fortnight with 10 people having lost their lives and more than 90 missing so far in the disaster.

With more rain forecast many areas of south-east Queensland have been evacuated including parts of the state capital Brisbane, the third largest city in Australia, after the banks of its major river burst inside the city's central business district yesterday.

The water levels of the capital's Brisbane River are expected to rise another two metres in the next 24 hours, while the Bremer River in inland Ipswich – the home town of Shane Watson – is set to peak at a record mark of 20.5m.

England's players have responded to the tragedy with every member of the 17-man squad donating some part of their match fees to the Queensland Premier's Flood Relief appeal. Kevin Pietersen is auctioning some of his kit to raise money for the fund via Twitter.

"Each morning you stick the TV on and it just seems to get worse and worse," Graeme Swann said. "It's just one of those times when you realise how lucky you are not to be involved. I'm sure for those involved in it, it's a terrible time. It's very close to home for so many of the Aussie guys. For us we are in a bubble when we are on tour and it's important that we realise that there's people's lives that are being ruined by this. We're making donations, I'm not sure what the total is, but the guys are donating their match fees today towards that appeal.

"It's important that we do something and what we can do is try and get the message that those people need as much support as possible."

The one-day game at the Gabba on 30 January will also raise funds for Flood Relief.

* England claimed a six-wicket win over Australia in the first women's Twenty20 in Adelaide yesterday. Lydia Greenway hit an unbeaten 39 to steer the tourists past Australia's 140 for five with 10 balls to spare in a match played as a curtain-raiser to the men's one. England were always ahead of the required rate after openers Charlotte Edwards (16) and Laura Marsh (23) got off to a bright start. And when they fell Greenway completed the job, hitting four fours and a six in her 26-ball innings.