BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (AP):

ANTI-SMOKING advocates are pushing to ban lighting up at all 12 venues for the 2007 Cricket World Cup, a Barbadian health official said on Thursday.

The dozen cricket grounds in nine Caribbean nations designated to host matches during the sport's biggest event should be smoke-free, said Victor Roach, director of the National Committee for Prevention of Alcoholism and Drug Dependency in Barbados.

"It is clearly spelt out in the terms and conditions of that there will be designated smoking areas," Roach said. "(But) we are calling for the event to be totally smoke-free."

Roach said he has been lobbying tournament officials for over a year to ban smoking at the competition. Advocates are also urging host nation governments to enact legislation to prohibit smoking during tournament matches, he said.

The World Cup will run from March 13 to April 18. The opening ceremony will be on March 11, and warm-up matches from March 5-9. It will be spread over 12 grounds in nine countries: Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda, St. Lucia, Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana.

About 100,000 cricket fans are expected to attend the tournament, which is being held in the Caribbean for the first time.