From correspondents in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, 08:30 PM IST

Though no host nation has ever won the cricket World Cup, West Indies captain Brian Lara believes that his team has a fair chance of doing well in the ICC World Cup 2007 starting next month.

'I think we have a good chance of doing well at home,' Lara was quoted as saying in the Trinidad Guardian. 'People don't understand just how important home advantage is and we have this in our favour.'

He said the pitches and conditions in the Caribbean are unique and a lot of international sides take a while to get accustomed to the wickets.

'We have a good team of players who have been together for a while and I think they are ready for the big challenge,' said Lara, a veteran of four World Cups.

'This is the biggest sporting event the Caribbean has seen and who knows if we would see it in the near future again,' he said, speaking after Trinidad and Tobago defeated Barbados in the Carib Beer Challenge domestic tournament final at Pointe-a-Pierre Sunday.

Meanwhile, members of the West Indies team are understood to have expressed concern over their preparations, the newspaper said.

Dinanath Ramnarine, president of the West Indies Players Association, was quoted as saying that some players have expressed concerns over when and where the training camp for World Cup would be held.

'Some players have expressed concern about the preparations which they think is not ideal and we have passed this on to the board,' he told the newspaper.

'We have also enquired about the camp and so far we are awaiting word from the West Indies Cricket Board.'

The West Indies will be playing their preliminary group matches at the Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica. They are placed in Group D, which also includes Pakistan, Zimbabwe and Ireland.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)