BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC):

CRICKET WORLD Cup 2007 organisers are ready to handle the pressure of drug testing when the event comes to the West Indies in a few weeks.

Barbados' Attorney-General Dale Marshall said last week that the government's forensic laboratory would serve as a satellite office for the World Anti-Doping Agency

"The accreditation process for our forensics lab is just about complete," Marshall said. "The original proposal was that we would have full accreditation as a WADA lab so that we could do testing not just for the Cricket World Cup, but also for other international events.

Challenges

"There were some challenges along the way so we had to move back from that position somewhat to the point where the mission was to establish our forensics lab as a satellite facility.

"We have partnered with the University of London and they have an excellent laboratory which is very highly regarded internationally, and we have therefore passed all the criteria, so our facility could be accredited as a satellite laboratory."

Marshall said the framework had already been put in place and officials from London would be in the Caribbean during the World Cup to offer advice and assistance where needed.

He noted that the testing would be handled in the Bridgetown laboratory, using the facilities and manpower resources available in the Caribbean.

"The testing would in a sense be testing by the U.K. laboratory, being done in Barbados. This for us is still a victory. It has allowed our people here to receive an advanced level of training, which will be to their benefit," Marshall pointed out.

"We are on the road to achieving status as a full WADA laboratory, and the standards that we have reached are satisfactory for what we are required to do to host the Cricket World Cup."