Hooper, Gayle for Double Wicket World Cup

The St. Lucia Tourist Board, in collaboration with Maiden Management, cricinfo.com, the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), Caribbean Star and the Minsitry of Education, Human Resource Development, Youth and Sports has launched the inaugural Double Wicket World Cup, which will be played at St. Lucia's Beausejour Cricket Ground from April 4-6.

The event is planned to follow on from the ICC World Cup in South Africa, which will end just before the Double Wicket competition. West Indies captain Carl Hooper and opening batsman Chris Gayle will the home team representatives, in an event that will feature teams of two players each from eight Test-playing nations.

Also confirmed to take part are England's Adam Hollioake, Pakistan's Wasim Akram and Shahid Afridi, South Africa's Allan Donald and Sri Lanka's Aravinda da Silva. Other major international stars are expected to confirm their participation in the coming weeks.

The teams will play for a share of the US$175,000 kitty as well as the Sir Garry Sobers Trophy, sculpted by St. Lucian artist Ricky George. Sir Garry, along with Sir Everton Weekes, Lance Gibbs, St. Lucia's Mindoo Philip and former Test wicketkeepers Deryck Murray and Michael Findlay are patrons of the event, which is expected to draw spectators from all corners of the planet.

Double wicket cricket is regarded as the most exciting form of the game. Each of the two players must bat and bowl for an "innings" of eight overs (10 in the semifinals and 12 in the final), with nine other regulation fielders. When one of the two players loses his wicket, he continues batting, but 10 runs are deducted from his team's total.

It's an exciting and exhilarating contest, and the St. Lucia Tourist Board is hoping is it an event that will grip the imagination of fans worldwide.