World's top all-rounders prepare for new challenge

Friday sees the first day of a weekend of cricket on the stunning West Indian island of St Lucia. The innovative Double Wicket format should immediately catch the eye - 8 teams of top international players, 8 overs per pair, lose 10 runs for losing a wicket, with the competition over in the space of 3 days. The round-robin stages take place on Friday and Saturday, with the semi-finals and finals on Sunday. The players who will be gracing the Beausejour Stadium include Wasim Akram, Andy Flintoff, Aravinda de Silva and Chris Cairns.

It is astonishing that such a competition hasn't been tried before. Young players around the world are familiar with batting in pairs for limited numbers of overs, but the format has never yet been built into a high-profile international competition. That will all change on Friday when the first ball is bowled in the new Double Wicket World Championship.

St. Lucia is preparing for the Double Wicket with great verve and enthusiasm. The new Beausejour Stadium, with a capacity of over 14,000, is a source of great pride for the island. And St. Lucia is enjoying hosting the players, as well as a number of tourists from around the world whose choice of Caribbean island for their "all-inclusive" sunshine holiday has been influenced by this event. The advent of the Double Wicket World Championship is anticipated with great excitement by St. Lucians, with many of the taxi-drivers, bar staff and waiters all saying that they were planning to go over the weekend, with many having all three days firmly in their diary.

Committed to the Championship for the next ten years, the St. Lucians want to create an annual event that raises the profile of the island, and attracts cricket fans in increasing numbers. The island already has a proven track record in creating regular, popular events that drive tourism. The annual three-day jazz festival, which takes place in May each year, attracts some of the world's biggest jazz names, and fills hotel rooms with American and European tourists.

St Lucia's new-found commitment to international cricket will surely have an effect on the island's chances of claiming the great prize of a number of World Cup 2007 matches. Indeed, such is the extent of the island's ambition that Director of Tourism Peter stated that the island wishes to lay claim to the World Cup final. In the short term, Beausejour hosts the Australians in May, and hopes to be a key venue on the Barmy Army's itinerary for England's tour next Spring.

The effect on local cricket should also be positive. St Lucia is the only Caribbean island never to have produced a West Indies cricketer. Cricket nevertheless has a strong presence here, and the long stereotype of Caribbean kids playing cricket in the streets with improvised bats is still much in evidence throughout the island. Indeed, driving past Ti Roche primary school, which boasts a brand new basketball court, I noticed a number of games of cricket going on. 30 or so children played cricket on the rough gravel on either side of the court, while only four kids were using the new facility to play basketball.

The competition itself should be a keenly-contested one. Pakistan's pairing of Wasim Akram and Shahid Afridi is perhaps the most eyecatching of the teams, while England's Andrew Flintoff and Adam Hollioake offers two genuine all-rounders capable of penetrative bowling and attacking batting. New Zealand's pairing of Daniel Vettori and Jacob Oram could capitalise on their Max experience and Chris Gayle and Carl Hooper line up for the hosts. The tournament will also provide spectators with the chance to see Aravinda de Silva and Allan Donald. Guest wicketkeepers are Andy Flower and Ridley Jacobs.

The action starts at 10am on Friday 4th April when hosts West Indies face England. CricInfo will be providing regular score updates and reports throughout the event. Although there is no live TV coverage, reports from the can be seen on Sky Sports during their coverage of Australia v West Indies First Test next week.