Caribbean gears up for World Cup invasion

ST JOHN'S, ANTIGUA, Mar 7 (Reuters) Antigua and Barbuda's traditionally busy tourist season has been quiet so far this year but not for long.

This island nation of 68,000 is about to be swamped by an expected 15,000 cricket fans from around the world.

The Super Eight Series, featuring the eight surviving teams from the World Cup opening rounds will be held here and in three other Caribbean nations from March 27.

While the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Stadium has been built and completed on time, constructed in partnership with China, the infrastructure surrounding it is still a work in progress.

Richards, the greatest batsman of his generation and Antigua's best-known citizen agreed that work still needed to be done.

However, he was also cautiously optimistic about the ability of his countrymen to meet the challenge.

''We are a resilient people,'' he said. ''When they are up against it, that's when you do see people come into operation and I hope that that's the case again.'' Richards is not alone in hoping for the best. Antigua has never hosted an event of this magnitude before and with the clock ticking, there is now a sense of urgency in the effort to improve roads and finish construction of new hotels.

For the enormous influx of visitors, the government has chartered three cruise liners, in addition to those which regularly bring tourists here, to serve as floating hotels.

From there, charter buses will ferry ticket-holders to the matches along roads they say will be ready for the extra traffic.

''I'd like to give the people involved the benefit of the doubt that they'll have it all ready,'' said Richards.

If there are doubts in Antigua, there are none to be found on nearby St Kitts and Nevis. The local World Cup committee, led by Horatio Versailles, was brimming with optimism.

''We are very, very confident that everything will be ready,'' he said emphasising his point by saying refurbishment of the Warner Park stadium was just one day behind schedule.

HIGHEST PROFILE With a population of just 32,000, St Kitts and Nevis is the smallest of all host nations with perhaps the highest profile in the first round of the tournament.

Australia will open their title defence here at Warner Park in the capital Basseterre, playing against Scotland, the Netherlands and the top-rated South Africa.

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