The much-maligned Hooper and dashing opening batsman Chris Gayle are among the favoured pairs in the historic Double Wicket World Cup, which bowls off at the ultra-modern Beausejour Stadium in St Lucia today.

With Gayle opting out of the Carib Beer International Challenge to wear the maroon West Indies colours, the West Indies will having their original pair vying for supremacy in the ICC-sanctioned event which carries a lucrative first prize of US65 000 dollars.

Gayle, a hard-hitting left-handed batsman and Hooper, an attractive right-handed stroke-maker, are both off-spin bowlers and could be ideally suited for this competition where each player must bowl four of the eight overs in the preliminary round.

The inaugural event with US$175 000 at stake is being coordinated by the St Lucia Tourist Board in conjunction with the St Lucia Cricket Association.

It has attracted eight pairs from the leading ICC Test-playing countries and has been sponsored by Caribbean Star Airline, Sandals Hotel, British Airways, AT & T and Cricinfo.

Back-to-back World Cup One-Day champions, Australia will be represented by former Test players, Michael Slater, who is an attacking opening batsman and batting all-rounder Greg Blewett.

Pakistan will be represented by their long-serving all-rounder and former captain Wasim Akram and the explosive Shahid Afridi while Steve Elsworthy and Justin Kemp will carry the banner for South Africa.

Former England One-Day captain Adam Hollioake and Andrew Flintoff, both medium-pace all-rounders, will be the English pair.

Veteran batsman Aravinda de Silva and captain Sanath Jayasuriya give Sri Lanka a formidable combination while Zimbabwe have a good pair in fast-bowling all-rounder Heath Streak and Grant Flower.

West Indian Ridley Jacobs and Zimbabwe’s Andy Flower will be the wicketkeepers doing duties in the competition.

The runners-up will receive US$30 000 and the losing semifinalists US$20 000 with a consolation prize of US$10 000 going to the other participating pairs.

The Double Wicket event, the first of its kind in the Caribbean with international teams involved, will be played as a round-robin tournament with two four-team groups opposing each other.

Each of the 12 Group matches will be played as eight over-a-side contests while the two semifinals will be contested over 10 overs with 12 overs per side for the grand final.

Four umpires, Vincentian Goaland Greaves, Antiguan Clancy Mack, Barbadian Dalton Holder and Grenadian Glenroy Johnson will officiate in the three-day competition.