Teams ready for world double-wicket
CASTRIES: All competing teams, the West Indies apart, have been confirmed for next week’s World Double-Wicket Cricket Championship at the Beausejour Stadium, St Lucia. The eight-team tournament, sanctioned by the International Cricket Council (ICC), will be staged April 4-6, with Michael Slater and Greg Blewett representing World Cup champions Australia at the US$175,000 tournament. The proposed West Indies team of Carl Hooper and Chris Gayle cannot be confirmed until the Carib Beer International Shield semi-finals are completed, since the Shield final dates clash with the Double-Wicket Championship. Sanath Jayasuriya is expected to join Aravinda de Silva for World Cup semi-finalists Sri Lanka, and the other teams will be Chris Cairns and Jacob Oram for New Zealand, Steve Elsworthy and Justin Kemp for South Africa, Wasim Akram and Shoaib Afridi (Pakistan), Heath Streak and Grant Flower (Zimbabwe), and Andrew Flintoff and Adam Hollioake (England). Ridley Jacobs of the West Indies, and Zimbabwe’s Andy Flower will be the wicket-keepers and the umpires will be Goaland Greaves, of St Vincent and the Grenadines, Clancy Mack (Antigua), Dalton Holder (Barbados), and Glenroy Johnson (Grenada). Jackie Hendriks, a former ICC match referee, will be the Championship referee. The winning team will collect US$65,000 and runners-up US$30,000. Semi-finalists will earn US$20,000 and all other participating teams take home US$10,000. The event is being co-sponsored by Sandals Hotel, British Airways, Caribbean Star, Cricinfo, and AT&T, while Sky Television and Wisden will be among the international press covering the event. (CMC).
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"Teams ready for world double-wicket"