ST JOHN'S, Antigua (CMC):

CRICKET WORLD Cup 2007 organisers in Antigua and Barbuda are readying themselves for a crucial inspection by the International Cricket Council (ICC) later this month.

World Cup Antigua Inc.(WCAI), the Local Organising Committee, has been meeting this week with its counterparts to ensure that it meets its 'deliverables' ahead of the ICC's visit on November 18.

George Goodwin Jr., managing director and CEO of WCAI, said they "are now beyond the nuts and bolts activities of hosting the event. We are entering the final stages of preparations where we are concentrating on fine-tuning our deliverables, which include all those things that have to be done on match days and this involves staff responsible for cricket operations, event management, security, medical, disaster preparedness, transportation and volunteers," Goodwin said.

Venue development coordinator Sheon Samuel said the ICC visit "is a critical activity in our preparations since the ICC and all other stakeholders will be assessing our success on delivering all those things we undertook in our bid book submission and our general readiness to host our package of matches in the world's third largest sporting event."

A statement from WCAI said the inspection tour would look beyond the new Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Grounds (SVRCG), which is nearing completion, and the physical cricketing facilities. They will be interested in the state of the infrastructure such as air and sea ports and accommodation among others, it added.

The heat is on

"There is now intense pressure on all of us involved in preparing for ICC CWC 2007 to complete all of the activities in accordance with the schedule we had agreed with the ICC," Samuel said.

"We face very serious challenges that have impacted our timelines." The Chinese Government funded and built the two main stands, four lighting towers, a players' tunnel, two vehicular tunnels and two electronic scoreboards at the stadium.

"We are still confident that despite the delays (because of recent rains) we will be in a position to display our commitment to host successfully our Super Eights next March and April," Samuel said.