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MONTEGO BAY, July 14: Defending champions Australia will be based at St Kitts & Nevis in the preliminary round of the 2007 World Cup, the West Indies Cricket Board has announced.
The draw handed Barbados the final and put 2003 losing finalists India in Trinidad & Tobago. England will be based in St Lucia and hosts West Indies in Jamaica, which will stage the tournament's opening match.
"Cricket has a unique ability to draw together the people of this glorious region and the strength of this bond will be crucial to the successful hosting of the World Cup," said ICC president Ehsan Mani at the draw ceremony on Tuesday.
Antigua, Barbados, Grenada and Guyana are the other venues for the event, whose 51 matches will take place between February and April 2007. New venues are to be built in Antigua and Guyana, with the other six venues set to undergo major upgrades.
West Indies Cricket Board president Teddy Griffith said the event would leave a legacy of economic benefit to the region and the "improvement of and addition to the cricketing facilities to which sadly we have admittedly not paid sufficient attention in the past."
MATCH ALLOCATIONS:
Preliminary Round:
Venue 1 (hosts West Indies' matches, plus opening ceremony and opening match): Jamaica.
Venue 2 (hosts England's matches): St Lucia.
Venue 3 (hosts India's matches): Trinidad & Tobago.
Venue 4 (hosts Australia's matches): St Kitts & Nevis.
Quarterfinals:
Venue 5 (hosts three last-eight matches): Antigua & Barbuda.
Venue 6: Grenada.
Venue 7: Guyana.
Venue 8 (hosts three last-eight matches): Barbados.
Semifinals:
Jamaica and St Lucia.
Final:
Barbados. -Reuters
