.....and what type of a/c would this flight test be in? Anybody cross hire triple 7's?
I don't think anyone is sugesting you arrange or pay for the ATPL flight test yourself. As 404 Titan says, most airlines will require you to have a 'frozen ATPL' or ATPL theory, the flight test can then be done in conjunction with a continued competency check (IFR renewal), or command check. This to me makes far more sense than the current Aussie system, in which a pilot can hold an ATPL without ever having been behind the controls of a transport category aircraft.
This is all in line with ICAO practice, welcome to the present.