The combined African team was also revealed yesterday.

Ashraful, the exciting 21-year old middle order batsman was the lone Bangladeshi in the team of 15 team but Tigers wicketkeeper Khaled Mashud and ace paceman Mashrafee bin-Mortuza were named in the stand-by list of three.

Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq will lead the Asian XI while Indian Rahul Dravid will act as his deputy in the three-match ODI series against the African XI.

The Asian team was selected by a panel appointed by the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) where Shafiqul Haque Hira represented Bangladesh. Majid Khan (Pakistan), Ravi Shastri (India) and Graeme Labrooy (Sri Lanka) were the other members in the panel.

Ashraful in his instant reaction said he was a shade disappointed that more Bangladeshi players were not in the Asian side.

"During today's practice I had congratulated Pilot Bhai (Khaled Mashud) in advance because we all felt that he was going to be called up as he is the best wicket-keeper in Asia. Still I am delighted at seeing my name but it would have been nice if we had more representation."

Ashraful thought his inclusion was prompted by his showing in the NatWest tri-series in England.

"Many people had told me before the England tour that I was going to be the focus of attention but that became the case only after I had made some runs in the one-day series. I have realised that there is no alternative to scoring runs if you want to be in the spotlight. Nobody cared about me after the Test series but suddenly I was the centre of attention after the NatWest games. If I perform well in the Afro-Asia Cup, the same thing will happen," said Ashraful.

Ashraful scored a match-winning maiden century against world champions Australia and then followed that up with a blistering 94 against England and another swashbuckling 58 against Australia.

The players who will participate in the series will be paid full ODI match fees. The series winning side will earn prize-money worth 100,000 US dollars while the victorious team in each game will get US$ 25,000. The man of the match will be richer by US$ 5,000 and the man of the tournament will earn US$ 10,000.

Meanwhile, Reuters adds that the Africa XI will be captained in the first two matches by South African Shaun Pollock, with his compatriot Graeme Smith taking over in the final game, having completed a four-match ban for time-wasting in the West Indies earlier this year.

The Africa squad also includes Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher and Heath Streak, one of three Zimbabweans in the squad. Batsman Steve Tikolo heads a delegation of three Kenyans in the squad. South Africans Makhaya Ntini, Justin Kemp and Andre Nel are unavailable because of commitments in English county cricket.

Africa Cricket Association president Peter Chingoka said the matches were a fund-raising initiative.

"The purpose of the series is to raise revenue to meet the mutual developmental goals in both continents and, as part of cricket's social responsibility, 10 percent of the net profits will go to a charitable cause to be announced by the end of this week," Chingoka told reporters.

"The Africa team is the best available. The timing is not perfect but we had to kickstart this venture now and sacrifice a bit, otherwise we would have had to wait over a year.

"It will be better in the additional series in Asia in 2006 and back in Africa in 2007."

SQUADS
AFRICA - Graeme Smith, Shaun Pollock, Boeta Dippenaar, AB de Villiers, Jacques Kallis, Ashwell Prince, Albie Morkel, Mark Boucher, Monde Zondeki, Jacques Rudolph, Nicky Boje, Justin Ontong, Dale Steyn (all South Africa); Steve Tikolo, Collins Obuya, Thomas Odoyo (Kenya); Heath Streak, Tatenda Taibu, Andy Blignaut (Zimbabwe).

ASIA - Inzamam-ul-Haq, Yousuf Youhana, Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzaq, Naveed ul-Hasan, Shoaib Akhtar (Pakistan); Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, Irfan Pathan, Anil Kumble (India); Kumar Sangakkara, Sanath Jayasuriya, Muttiah Muralitharan, Chaminda Vaas (Sri Lanka); Mohammad Ashraful (Bangladesh).

Stand by: Masrafee-bin-Mortuza, Khaled Mashud (Bangladesh), Marvan Atapattu (Sri Lanka).