"What an honour," said Brian Lara, the West Indies captain when he stepped forward to utter the Players' Declaration at the ceremonial opening of this ICC Cricket World Cup at the Trelawny Stadium on Sunday evening.
By Garth WattleyBut an even greater thrill for him and his Pakistan counterpart Inzamam ul-Haq today, Tuesday March 13, will be to win the opening match of this tournament.
A series so anticipated by Caribbean people, to be watched with interest by a curious wider world, and which was given such an energetic and grand introduction by the Trelawny spectacle, will see the hosts playing the losing finalists in the 1999 edition in England.
Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer described it as "an honour" for his side to be asked to play in the opening game.
But for both sides, a lot will be at stake from the start.
The two are the established teams and clear favorites in Group D. And although Woolmer warned yesterday that Ireland "were a good side" and that the group was a tough one, victory will almost certainly mean the topping of the group and the carrying forward of valuable points to the Super Eights stage of the competition should they both progress as expected.
A win against the home team will also be an added fillip to a Pakistan squad that had two solid and comfortable warm-up wins over minnows Canada and world No.1 South Africa in Trinidad last week.
Those results should further settle a team trying to put behind them the unwelcome controversy prompted by the initial selection of fast bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif-contentiously reprieved of doping bans-and their eventual withdrawal because of injury.
Inzamam's troops, though, have more reason to be optimistic than pessimistic.
In their last ten meetings with the Windies in One-day Internationals, they have won eight, including all three on their last visit to the Caribbean.
Those are the kinds of stats that will not ease the tension for Lara's boys.
The eyes of a sceptical world are on the region, examining closely how this event is managed.
But as the representatives on the field, the players will have the prime responsibility of making the Caribbean shine. Their countrymen, including the triumphant members of the Windies World Cup-winning teams of 1975 and '79 who will be honoured today, will be counting on them, too.
However, the lead-up to today has been anything but smooth.
West Indies' two warm-up matches in Trelawny produced an unconvincing win over Kenya and a hugely-embarrassing nine-wicket thumping by India where they contrived to be dismissed for 85. It was a display Lara, not for the first time, was unable to explain.
The chronic inconsistency and lack of precision in the various aspects of play that were evident in both games comes against a backdrop of recent poor results in ODIs.
In their last two series, in Pakistan and India, the West Indies lost both, winning one game apiece.
The Windies seem to be struggling to get themselves together, racing against time, just as seemed to be the case with today's venue.
The West Indies afternoon full practice session scheduled for Sabina yesterday had to be shifted to Kensington Park because the facility was not able to accommodate them. The Pakistanis were similarly dislocated.
But Lara is trying not to have his players be sidetracked by anything.
"The most important thing today and even before the game starts tomorrow is to relax," he said. "I think everyone needs to be in their zone. Everyone needs to be comfortable with their game We'll be stressing to dig deep into your self-confidence and make sure you're well prepared."
If the Windies' play today comes anywhere near touching the inspirational heights David Rudder attained with his rendition of "High Mass" on Sunday, then the Caribbean's first World Cup will have a fitting beginning. And everyone will be giving praise.
