Tony Becca FROM THE BOUNDARY

THE START of the action is still two days away, but as far as Jamaica is concerned, probably also the rest of the Caribbean, the 2007 World Cup of Cricket gets under way this afternoon with the staging of the opening ceremony at the country's brand new and beautiful multi-purpose stadium in Trelawny.

For four years now, Chris Dehring and his team have been talking about putting on a show that will help in making this World Cup the best ever - certainly the most enjoyable and the most memorable - and every Jamaican, every West Indian, must be keeping his or her fingers crossed and hoping that it really will be a dazzling, top-class event, and one worthy of the rich history of the talented West Indian people - of its dancers, its musicians, its singers, and most importantly its cricketers

Since the West Indies' first Test match back in 1928, the region has produced someof the world's greatest cricketers. Numbered among them are such masters as George Headley, Frank Worrell, Everton Weekes and Clyde Walcott; Gary Sobers and Rohan Kanhai; Clive Lloyd, Lawrence Rowe and Alvin Kallicharran; Viv Richards and Brian Lara; Sonny Ramadhin and Alfred Valentine, Lance Gibbs, Wes Hall, Andy Roberts, Michael Holding and Malcolm Marshall; Jeffrey Dujon, Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose.

a fitting tribute

A truly brilliant opening ceremony for the first World Cup to be staged in the West Indies would be a fitting tribute to them.

While there are those who still believe that Jamaica got a poor deal - when they came up with the package that consisted of the opening ceremony, one of the first-round groups, and one of the semi-finals, and that by getting a few Super Eight matches and the final Barbados came out better than Jamaica - I still believe that by hosting the opening ceremony, by hosting the home team and by getting one of the semi-finals, Jamaica did very well.

Lest it be forgotten, the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) convinced the heads of governments in 1997 to back their bid for the World Cup because of the impact the World Cup could have on tourism. That impact is why governments have spent so much money preparing for the tournament and with the opening ceremony to be beamed live and direct into the living rooms of millions of viewers around the world, the hosts of the opening ceremony stand to gain more from it than any other territory in the region for the simple reason that it will be beamed from there.

This evening, and for as long as it is talked about, the opening ceremony, whether it is a success or not and regardless of how much of the cast or the music come from other territories, will be seen right around the world as a Jamaican event.

The only other package which can compare with that of Jamaica is the one involving the final and such is the history of the game in Barbados, such is the passion of the game in the country that has produced more great Test cricketers than any other in the region, including the greatest all-round cricketer of them all, that as far as I am concerned, the final of the World Cup in the West Indies had to be played at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados.

The first ball of the World Cup will be bowled at Sabina Park on Tuesday when the West Indies, the home team, take on Pakistan, and cricket fans wait for that.

With today's function being the only time that all 16 teams will be in one place, however, this is the time to say welcome to them, to the officials, to the umpires, and to our visitors, and to say thanks to those, like former president of the WICB Pat Rousseau, former vice-president of the WICB Clarvis Joseph, and Dehring who, while others had little or no faith, were confident that the West Indies could host an event of this magnitude, made the bid for it, and won the bid.

Hopefully, the West Indies team, the home team, will play well, but to all the teams, good luck, and may the best one walk away with the Cup on April 28.