Barbados, Nov 05: International Cricket Council (ICC) chief executive Malcolm Speed says he has every confidence in the West Indies' ability to host the 2007 World Cup and hit out at reports that Australia has been lined-up as an alternative should the tournament be unable to be staged in the Caribbean. "We are required by our commercial partners and for insurance purposes to have a back-up - in South Africa we had a back-up and I think it was Australia and New Zealand," said Speed who arrived here along with ICC president Ehsan Mani on a tournament progress visit.

"I think it is important to say that no decision has been made by the ICC as to which country will be the back-up venue and any suggestion that it is Australia is quite premature and inappropriate. "At a time in the future the ICC will meet and nominate a back-up venue. That has not occurred as to when that will be - somewhere around two years from the event but that has not been decided yet."

Mani told a brief press conference that the ICC had no concerns at this time about the West Indies' plans to host the World Cup noting that they would be there to help and pick up any problems.

Bureau Report