BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC

Countries bidding to host matches in the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 Championship will know by next week if they were successful.

Only five countries met the deadline date of November 18 for the submission of their bids to become host venues during the competition.

The five countries are Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, Guyana, St Kitts & Nevis, and St Lucia - only half of the Caribbean nations that hosted matches in last year's World Cup.

"The organising committee met in Barbados last week and have made their recommendations to the ICC," an official source told the CMC Sports Wire.

"It must be stressed that the organising committee is only in a position to make recommendations, and it is up to the ICC to make the final decision about the host venues."

Three host venues are required for the competition which will be the biggest to be staged in the Caribbean, following last year's World Cup, when many countries upgraded their cricket and supporting facilities.

Following an announcement to the successful bidding countries at a meeting in St Lucia next week, local organising committees will then prepare for a host venue inspection from ICC officials early in December.

"The good thing about this tournament - which is different from the World Cup - is that the ICC is paying for it," the source added.

Countries which hosted matches in the World Cup last year spent close to US $1 billion in preparing for that event, including either building new or renovating cricket grounds, improving roadways, security, hospitals and support services.

The large expenditure caused an uproar in most, if not all of the countries, but they all completed the job satisfactorily, and the Caribbean was praised for the level of its organisation.

"The ICC is in effect paying West Indies a management fee for the World Twenty20 Championship, and any infrastructure that is required they will have to pay for it," the source said.

Officials have been busy behind the scenes putting things in place for the competition, and they have been careful to negotiate terms and conditions that would allow visitors to enjoy a uniquely Caribbean cricket experience - something which many people felt was clearly lacking during the World Cup.

"There have been discussions about a number of things with the ICC," the source said.

"The Caribbean has now had the experience of organising the World Cup, and the same mistakes should not be made.

"People attending the 2010 World Twenty20 Championship should experience the truly unique flavour of cricket in the Caribbean."

The ICC are also considering a proposal to host a Women's Twenty20 World Championship simultaneously with the men's competition in 2010 - as the World body intends to do next year in England - but those plans have not been finalised yet.

The ICC announced last month that the West Indies will host the World Twenty20 Championship in 2010.

The ICC revealed the decision followed the postponement of the 2008 ICC Champions Trophy which was to be staged last month in Pakistan.

With this year's Champions Trophy pushed back until September next year due to safety concerns in Pakistan, this would have meant that the competition would have been played twice in the space of nine months had the ICC not chosen to scrap its plans for a 2010 edition in the Caribbean.

So the ICC decided to have a World Twenty20 Championship instead from April 23 to May 9 in 2010 in the Caribbean.

Although a World Twenty20 Championship takes place next year in England, and this competition is to be held every second year, the ICC decided to hold it on the trot to set their calendar right and ensure a better spread of tournaments.

The WICB had started preparations for the 2010 Champions Trophy when they appointed Ernest Hilaire as tournament director.

Hillaire, a prominent attorney-at-law from St. Lucia, had served as chief executive officer of the local organising committee for his homeland's leg of the 2007 World Cup.