Marley's Ghost to Welcome Fans for Cricket World Cup http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/02/world/americas/02kingston.html?ref=americas ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 [iTunes] http://cricketworldcup.indya.com/ The Rules of Cricket http://www.therulesofcricket.co.uk/ CaribbeanCricket.com http://caribbeancricket.com/ Cricket for America http://www.nakedwhiz.com/crickgl.htm#bush In the year 1611, two men in Sussex found themselves in a spot of trouble as they were prosecuted for playing cricket on Sunday instead of attending church. The draw of this immensely popular sport has continued unabated for four centuries, and like many other things associated with the British Empire, it spread quickly, and passions surrounding the sport and its matches often dominate conversations everywhere from Islamabad to Kingston. This March finds cricket fans looking towards the West Indies, as they will be playing host to the Cricket World Cup. In past years, the event has been held in India and South Africa, and this year finds a number of countries in the region (including Guyana and Jamaica) hosting different matches. This year's World Cup has seen a number of logistical challenges, not the least of which is the difficult problem of obtaining travel visas for all of the players, coaches, and support staff. Fortunately, most of these issues have been resolved, and the coming weeks promise to be rather exciting ones for those people with a penchant for all-rounders, cabbage patches, and of course, googlies. The first link leads to a delightful story from the Pakistan Daily Times which talks about a number of cricket "outsiders", including Canada, Scotland, and Bermuda, and their respective chances in the Cricket World Cup. The second link leads to a recent piece from the New York Times which talks about the various preparations going on in places such as Kingston and Barbados for the huge influx of die-hard cricket fans that is due to begin shortly. Moving on, the third link leads to the very thorough official Cricket World Cup website, which includes press releases, information on the teams, and details on the venues themselves. Visitors to the site can also listen in on the official song of the 2007 Cricket World Cup, which happens to be sung by Faye-Ann Lyons of Trinidad and the Jamaican-born artist, Shaggy. The fourth site leads to the official and complete rules of cricket, which has been canonized into 42 laws. The fifth link will whisk users away to CaribbeanCricket.com, which serves as the "independent voice of West Indies Cricket." The final link will be most helpful to those who may be confused with argot used in the world of cricket. This online version of "The Devil's Dictionary of Cricket" by Miss Frances Bush will answer many, many questions about dozens of cricket terms.