South American Championship gets underway

The six-nation South American Championship gets underway tomorrow in Lima, Peru, amidst a degree of uncertainty.

Red-hot tournament favourite, Argentina, is due to fly into Lima tomorrow, the same day it is scheduled to commence its title defence against the Miami Masters. In other match, the host team faces Brazil.

Meanwhile, Brazil has been weakened by the unavailability of players and will need to 'borrow' players from other teams to form an eleven. It is the first time Peru has hosted the event, in a country where cricket survives due to expatriate Britons and Indians.

Peru has one club, the Lima Cricket & Football Club, while another pitch is used at a local school.

The tournament has received some coverage in the local media, with a television 'spot' and at least one newspaper article. ICC Americas Development Officer, John Shepherd, will attend the Championships, which will also include teams from Chile, Venezuela and a team of West Indian businessmen playing under the banner of 'Guyana'.