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Australia and South Africa are joint favourites to win the World Cup of cricket and based on their performances over the past two years they deserve to be the fancied teams.

In the latest odds quoted by bookmakers William Hill of England, Australia and South Africa are favoured at 3-1, followed by Pakistan at 4-1, England at 5-1, the West Indies and defending champions Sri Lanka at 8-1 and India at 10-1.

Based on those odds, after the preliminary group matches, and after the ``Super Six'', it should be Australia, South Africa, Pakistan and England in the semi-finals.

It would not be surprising, however, if one or two fail to make it to the last four - not only because the tournament has always produced one or two upsets and a few surprises, but also because there is not much between the top seven teams and anyone of them could walk away with the prize.

Sri Lanka have not been playing well recently, but like India, they possess a well-balanced team with some quality players and, if they click, they could be dangerous. And so too the West Indies.

Battered and bruised in South Africa where they won only one of seven one-day internationals earlier this year, the West Indies polished their image with some fine performances during the 3-3 tie with Australia, they are bubbling with confidence and in batsman Brian Lara and fast bowlers Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh they boast three players who, at their best, could pave the way for victory.

The big three, however, cannot do it alone, Lara, for example, will need the support of other batsmen and West Indians are keeping their fingers crossed and hoping Shivnarine Chanderpaul will enjoy a good tournament and the likes of Sherwin Campbell and Ridley Jacobs will be as good as they were against Australia.

The batsman who could make the difference, however, is Jimmy Adams.

During the Busta Cup tournament, Adams was a strokeless wonder. Since then, however, he has shown glimpses of his young days when In the Test matches against Australia, there were times, especially in the second innings of the third Test at Kensington Oval when his strokeplay was exciting and with the exception of Jacobs, towards the end of the one-day series he scored as quickly as anyone else.

That is the Adams his fans love to see and apart from his brilliant fielding and useful bowling, that is the Adams who could make the West Indies a real threat at the World Cup and, who is to tell, beat the odds and win the title.