Caribbean World Cup delegates meet in St Lucia

More than 170 delegates from 13 countries are attending a two-day summit in St Lucia, to decide how to split the match allocation for the 2007 World Cup, which is due to be held in the Carribean for the first time.

The countries being represented include the United States, Cayman Islands and Bermuda, while Carribean countries have until January 31, 2004 to submit their applications. The Caribbean Development Bank has agreed to provide every host country with the finance required to improve their facilities before the event.

"We feel very confident that we will shock the world by producing the best World Cup ever," said Rawle Brancker, the chairman of the International Cricket Council's cricket World Cup committee. "When we take the No. 1 cricket event and couple it with the region that we have, I think there is a great opportunity for us to put on a show that will be hard to beat."

Chris Dehring, the chief executive of Windies World Cup 2007, recently warned that many of the traditional Caribbean venues, such as Sabina Park in Jamaica and the Kensington Oval, Barbados, need a drastic improvement in their facilities if they are to guarantee themselves a role. Many grounds experts have been hired to help with the upgrades, ahead of regular ICC inspections in the lead-up to the event.