And Canada would appear to have stolen a march over the other two nations by offering to host the first ever head to head meeting between arch cricketing rivals India and Pakistan at a neutral venue.

Canada will, come September, host five one-day internationals between the traditional rivals for the Sahara Cup.

This is the first attempt to bring top grade cricket to North America, and is spearheaded by Mark McCormack's International Management Group (IMG), which effected seperate deals with the Indian and Pakistan cricket boards.

``The Sahara Cup will open an enormous opportunity for the game,'' says Indian cricket board president lnderjit Bindra. ``It's part of the sub-continent's commitment to the ICC associate members to popularise the game in these countries. Cricket can no longer be confined to only nine full members of the ICC.''

PCB chief Arif Abbasi is in agreement. ``In the near future, the World Cup could be jointly hosted by the West Indies and the United States. After the 1996 World Cup, the game has become commercially so viable that the West Indies are now keen on hosting the World Cup.''

Having said that, there is no guarantee that the stated aim - of popularising cricket in Canada and America through the hosting of annual clashes between the two countries - will ever be realised. However, the promoters are sure that cricket-starved expatriates will fill up the stadia, and that sponsorships and television rights will ensure that the tournament is a fiscal success.

The two boards will make their money from the sale of television coverage by IMG's TV arm, Trans World International. With plenty of interest in the games in all cricket playing nations and other countries with substantial sub-continental expatriate popula- tions, the sale of television rights is expected to fetch around $3 million.

The matches will be played on the natural turfs of some Canadian country clubs where cricket is played. As the matches are expected to attract keen interest, temporary stands with a capacity of nearly 15,000 spectators will be erected.

As part of the cricket popularisation bid, the members of the two teams will take out three days from their schedule to train and coach local youngsters.

In Canada, cricket is mainly played by expatriates from India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka besides those from the Caribbean countries. However unlike in the USA, there are several high quality club grounds in Canada, a youth programme of sufficient stature for it to play in the biannual Under-19 festival with England, Denmark, Holland, Bermuda, Ireland and Zimbabwe.

Canada, an associate member, figured in the 1979 World Cup but has since failed to qualify for the World Cup finals.

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