The contracts are worth £8 million to the International Cricket Council, with the England Cricket Board, as the hosts, taking the largest slice. The tournament organiser, Terry Blake, described it yesterday as ``a great deal for cricket and a great deal for viewers''.

The group matches will be covered on alternate days by one or other channel, with one of the 30 matches shown live every day from May 14 to 31. BBC radio will cover the games through ball-by-ball commentaries on Radio Four and regular updates on Radio 5 Live. Commentaries will also be carried on the Internet.

The nine matches in the second stage of the tournament will be covered in a five to four ratio by Sky and the BBC, with each organisation televising one of the semi-finals at Old Trafford and Edgbaston on June 16 and 17. The final at Lord's on Sunday June 20 will be shown live on Sky and the BBC.

This co-operative deal may well increase the chances of the ECB getting their wish to delist all but the Lord's Test after 1999, provided they can convince the committee looking at delisted sports events the BBC will continue to be a major player in the coverage of Test cricket on television. Blake said: ``We have worked hard to achieve the right balance between Sky Sports and the BBC.''

Outside the UK, television rights have already been sold in Australia and Africa. Three global sponsors for the World Cup Vodafone, NatWest and Pepsi-Cola - have been announced and two more corporations are expected to come aboard the gravy train soon.

So long as it does not rain, the tournament already looks likely to be what Vic Wakeling of Sky called ``the major sports event of 1999''. Good weather or not, it is guaranteed to rain money on the game.