 West Indies were surprise winners of the ICC Champions Trophy |
With a year to go before the opening game, the man in charge of organising the 2007 Cricket World Cup says a successful West Indies team is vital. But tournament chief executive Chris Dehring believes home advantage will boost the world's eighth-ranked team.
"To have a successful tournament we have to have an enthusiastic local population so we have to have a successful West Indies team.
"But to be frank we believe we have a competitive team," he told BBC Sport.
"We're ICC Champions Trophy one-day kings after winning in 2004 - England don't like to be reminded about losing that final - and we're at home.
"We're going to carry our boys on our backs and help them be successful."
 |  When they did not see concrete and steel many people were concerned but now it is there a lot of the scepticism has gone away |
West Indies open the tournament on 13 March 2007 against Pakistan in Jamaica.
The Caribbean side, who are hosting the tournament for the first time in its ninth incarnation, won the first two Cricket World Cups, in 1975 and '79.
But the surprise victory in the "mini World Cup" in England 18 months ago was a rare highpoint in their recent history.
In the last year they have won just two of 17 one-day internationals, including series whitewashes at home to South Africa and Pakistan.
The side was also hit by a sponsorship row, which saw several leading players go on strike.
"Clearly it has had a negative impact on the team," Dehring said of the dispute.
"But we hope that is behind us and the players and administrators understand the important role the team has to play."
However, with the International Cricket Council applying stringent rules to protect its own sponsors during the tournament, Dehring added: "Every cloud has a silver lining.
"The general knowledge and education about sponsorship and ambush marketing has grown greatly.
"It has helped us push through sunset legislation [which applies across all countries for the duration of the tournament] and educated people about business methods."
MMIX
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