The far pavilions: A rough guide to the sights, squads and stadiums

Peshawar (Peshawar Stadium)

The place: A trading town at the east side of the Khyber Pass, its gateway

status into Afghanistan gives it a bustling, romantic feel

Reasons to go: Buzkashi, brought by the Afghan refugees. An equine sport that involves teams trying to pick up a dead calf, and makes rugby look like

an especially contemplative game of chess

Reasons to stay away: Becomes lawless to the west - you need an armed

escort to get to the Pass. Tourist kidnappings also a hazard, especially around the refugee camps.

Extra point: The only Test here was against India in 1954-55. Pahlan Umrigar scored 108 in a drawn match

Rawalpindi (Rawalpindi Stadium)

The place: Headquarters of the Pakistani army

Reasons to go: The sprawling bazaars. Down the road in Islamabad is Asia's largest mosque, with room for 100,000

Reasons to stay away: Violence is rife, though not as bad as in Karachi.

There will be a strong military presence for the World Cup

Extra point: Sri Lanka beat Pakistan here in October last year to win the one-day series

Lahore

The place: Pakistan's cultural capital and most cosmopolitan city

Reasons to go: The Old City, unchanged since the days of the Moghuls;

Lahore Fort; the street masseurs on Abbott Road

Reasons to stay away: A roaring trade in forged and stolen travellers' cheques

The venue: Gaddafi Stadium

Extra point: Imran Khan was born here, in the Zaman Park area

Karachi (National Stadium)

The place: Largest city in Pakistan, though not the capital

Reasons to go: The beaches - about the only accessible ones in the country

Reasons to stay away: Rising disorder in the city itself (ethnic riots, general strikes, kidnappings of tourists, terrorist bombs and rockets). Foreign Office advice is to stay away

Extra point: The city in which Hanif Mohammad scored his 499 in 1959, a record that stood until Brian Lara's 501

Ahmedabad (Gujarat Stadium)

The place: The largest city in Gujarat state, a centre for the Jain religion.

Called the "Manchester of the East" due to its textile industry

Reasons to go: Gandhi's ashram at Sabarmati; the Gujarati vegetarian food - kadhis, undhyoos, sev ganthias and the rest; the fruits of the textile industry

Reasons to stay away: Violent confrontations between Muslims and Hindus

Extra point: In 1958-59 on the Ahmedabad matting, which increased the bounce, the touring West Indians Hall and Gilchrist took the home side apart with a furious display of intimidation

Bombay (Wankhede Stadium)

The place: Built on malarial swamps, a brash, cosmopolitan city where past and present, poverty and prosperity, collide in a riot of colour and squalor

Reasons to go: The Mahalaxmi racecourse, said to be the finest in India, has meetings every Sunday from November until March

Reasons to stay away: Now is not the best time to visit, with the Holi festival making the city even more crowded than usual. And beware falling floodlight pylons at the Wankhede

Extra point: The first Test match in India was at the Gymkhana Ground here,

in 1933-34. England won by nine wickets, Bryan Valentine making 136

Chandigarh (Chandigarh Stadium)

The place: Designed by Le Corbusier to be the epitome of the modern city. Some say it is a sprawling, sterile mess.

Reasons to go: The bizarre rock garden near the government buildings

Reasons to stay away: As capital of the Punjab, it has been caught up in the militant Sikhs' fight for an independent state, though last September's car bomb that killed the chief minister of the Punjab was the first serious terrorist incident for two years. And at the moment there is not a hotel room to be had in the place

Extra point: Birthplace of Kapil Dev, in 1959

Calcutta (Eden Gardens)

The place: Dirty, overcrowded and exhilarating

Reasons to go: The Indian Museum is one of the best in Asia; the Fairlawn Hotel provides a time-tunnel experience back to the Raj

Reasons to stay away: The poverty

Extra point: Scene of the World Cup final in 1987, when Australia beat England by seven runs.

Vishakhapatnam (Vishakhapatnam Stadium)

The place: Known during the Raj as the "Brighton of India"

Reasons to go: The beach

Reasons to stay away: The Russian-built steel works on the beach

Extra point: It was here in 1993 that the temperamental Phil Tufnell blew a gasket, snatching his hat from the umpire and kicking it across the field, for which he was fined pounds 500.

Madras (Chidambaram Stadium)

The place: The most laid-back of Indian cities. Briefly occupied by the French

Reasons to go: Few real attractions in the city itself, but many in Tamil Nadu, of which Bangalore is the state capital

Reasons to stay away: One of the centres of the country's flourishing illegal organ racket. Hang on to your kidneys

Extra point: Scene of Mike Gatting's highest Test score - 207 during England's nine-wicket victory in 1984-85

Bangalore (Karnataka State Cricket Association Stadium)

The place: Modern and industrial, but still pleasurable with its parks and long avenues. Name means "the town of beans"

Reasons to go: Mainly cultural rather than architectural - this is the most

westernised Indian city after Bombay

Reasons to stay away: Junk food can be dangerous here. Last month, 100 farmers wrecked a Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet and demanded that the company go back to America

Extra point: During the 1978 Test against West Indies, Sunil Gavaskar had a premonition he would be out for a duck. Sylvester Clarke had him caught first ball.

Colombo (Khetterama Stadium; Sinhalese Sports Club)

The place: Colourful but laid-back city

Reasons to go: Devil dancing at the Mt Lavinia Hotel; the Dancing Elephants show at Dehiwala Zoo

Reasons to stay away: None, according to the Sri Lankan Tourist Board, who maintained on Friday that despite the bomb that killed more than 80 people in January, the city is "calm, quiet, with everything running smoothly. There is no danger."

Extra point: Scene of Sri Lanka's first Test win, a 149-run victory over India

in 1985

Group A

Australia

India

Kenya

Sri Lanka

West Indies

Zimbabwe

Group B

England

Holland

New Zealand

Pakistan

South Africa

United Arab Emirates

Group A

16 Feb West Indies v Zimbabwe Hyderabad, India

17 Feb Sri Lanka v Australia Colombo, Sri Lanka

18 Feb India v Kenya Cuttack, India

21 Feb India v West Indies Gwalior, India

21 Feb Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe Colombo

23 Feb Australia v Kenya Vishakhapatnam, India

25 Feb Sri Lanka v West Indies Colombo

26 Feb Kenya v Zimbabwe Patna, India

27 Feb India v Australia Bombay, India

29 Feb West Indies v Kenya Pune, India

1 Mar Australia v Zimbabwe Nagpur, India

2 Mar India v Sri Lanka Delhi, India

4 Mar Australia v West Indies Jaipur, India

6 Mar India v Zimbabwe Kanpur, India

6 Mar Sri Lanka v Kenya Kandy, Sri Lanka

Group B

14 Feb England v New Zealand Ahmedabad, India

15 Feb South Africa v UAE Rawalpindi, Sri Lanka

17 Feb New Zealand v Holland Baroda, India

18 Feb England v UAE Peshawar, Pakistan

20 Feb New Zealand v South Africa Faisalabad, Pak

22 Feb England v Holland Peshawar

24 Feb Pakistan v UAE Gujranwala, Pakistan

25 Feb England v South Africa Rawalpindi, Pakistan

26 Feb Pakistan v Holland Lahore, Pakistan

27 Feb New Zealand v UAE Faisalabad

29 Feb Pakistan v South Africa Lahore

1 Mar Holland v UAE Lahore

3 Mar England v Pakistan Karachi, Pakistan

5 Mar South Africa v Holland Rawalpindi

6 Mar Pakistan v New Zealand Lahore

Quarter-finals

9 Mar 1st Gp A v 4th Gp B Faisalabad, Pakistan

9 Mar 3rd Gp A v 2nd Gp B Bangalore, India

11 Mar 4th Gp A v 1st Gp B Karachi, Pakistan

11 Mar 2nd Gp A v 3rd Gp B Madras, India

Semi-finals

13 Mar Faisalabad winner v Bangalore winner Calcutta, India

14 Mar Karachi winner v Madras winner Chandigarh, India

Final

17 Mar Lahore, Pakistan

The squads

Australia: Mark Taylor (capt), Michael Slater, Mark Waugh, Ricky Ponting, Steve Waugh, Stuart Law, Michael Bevan, Shane Lee, Ian Healy, Damien Fleming, Shane Warne, Paul Reiffel, Craig McDermott, Glenn McGrath.

England: Michael Atherton (capt), Alec Stewart, Dominic Cork, Philip DeFreitas, Neil Fairbrother, Darren Gough, Graeme Hick, Richard Illingworth, Peter Martin, Jack Russell, Robin Smith, Neil Smith, Graham Thorpe, Craig White.

Holland: Steven Lubbers (capt), Peter Cantrell, Nolan Clarke, Flavian Aponso, Tim De Leeda, Klaas Jan Van Noortwijk, Bas Zuiderent, Robert van Oosterom, Marcel Schewe, Reinout Scholte, Erik Gouka, Paul Jan Bakker, Roland Lefebvre, Floris Jansen.

India: Mohammed Azharuddin (capt), Sachin Tendulkar, Manoj Prabhakar, Ajay Jadeja, Navjot Sidhu, Vinod Kambli, Sanjay Manjrekar, Nayan Mongia, Aashish Kapoor, Javagal Srinath, Anil Kumble, Venkatesh Prasad, Venkatapathy Raju, Salil Ankola.

Kenya: Maurice Odumbe (capt), Dipak Chudasama, Kennedy Otieno, Tariq Iqbal, David Tikolo, Steve Tikolo, Hitesh Modi, Alpesh Vadher, Edward Odumbe, Sandip Gupta, Martin Suji, Thomas Odoyo, Rajab Ali, Tony Suji, Lameck Onyango, Joseph Angara, Asif Karim, Brijal Patel.

New Zealand: Lee Germon (capt), Nathan Astle, Chris Cairns, Stephen Fleming, Chris Harris, Robert Kennedy, Gavin Larsen, Danny Morrison, Dion Nash, Dipak Patel, Adam Parore, Shane Thomson, Roger Twose, Craig Spearman.

Pakistan: Wasim Akram (capt), Aamer Sohail, Javed Miandad, Salim Malik, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Ramiz Raja, Saeed Anwar, Ijaz Ahmed, Rashid Latif, Waqar Younis, Aaqib Javed, Ata-ur Rehman, Mushtaq Ahmed, Saqlain Mushtaq.

South Africa: Hansie Cronje (capt), Craig Matthews, Gary Kirsten, Andrew Hudson, Jacques Kallis, Daryll Cullinan, Jonty Rhodes, Brian McMillan, Shaun Pollock, Steve Palframan, Pat Symcox, Fanie de Villiers, Allan Donald, Paul Adams.

Sri Lanka: Arjuna Ranatunga (capt), Aravinda de Silva, Roshan Mahanama, Sanath Jayasuriya, Asanka Gurusinha, Hashan Tillekeratne, Romesh Kaluwitharana, Chaminda Vaas, Pramodya Wickramasinghe, Kumar Dharmasena, Muttiah Muralitharan, Marvan Atapattu, Upal Chandana, Ravindra Pushpakumara.

United Arab Emirates: Sultan Zarawani (capt), Saeed al-Saffar (vice- capt), Vijay Mehra, Saleem Raza, Shahzad Altaf, Shaukat Dukanwala, Ganesh Mylvaganam, Syed Azhar Saeed, Mazhar Hussein, Arshad Laiq, Mohammed Aslam, Johanne Samarasekera, Imtiaz Abbasi, Ishaq Mohammed.

West Indies: Richie Richardson (capt), Jimmy Adams, Curtly Ambrose, Keith Arthurton, Ian Bishop, Courtney Browne, Sherwin Campbell, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ottis Gibson, Roger Harper, Roland Holder, Carl Hooper, Brian Lara, Courtney Walsh.

Zimbabwe: Andy Flower (capt), Alastair Campbell, Eddo Brandes, Stephen Peall, Guy Whittall, Grant Flower, Heath Streak, Charles Lock, Sean Davies, Craig Evans, Andrew Waller, Henry Olonga, Bryan Strang, Paul Strang.