West Indian great Garfield Sobers said on Friday the World Cup starting on his home turf next month would be a thriller, with the winner difficult to predict.

Sobers, widely regarded as the greatest allround cricketer in history, told reporters that the top six or seven teams, including the hosts, were good enough to win the sport's biggest prize.

"It's wide open," said the 70-year-old, who is touring India to promote the tournament, which opens on March 13 and ends with the final in his native Barbados on April 28.

"There are six or seven teams that can win the cup. The West Indians under Brian Lara are right up there with the best.

"Three years ago if you asked me if we could win, I would have said no. But now we have turned the corner. We will be very hard to beat."

Sobers said Australia's current woes after a spectacular 3-0 rout by New Zealand were a "wake-up" call for the world champions, but added that they remained a force to be reckoned with.

"Australia were without their top players in New Zealand," he said. "The return of Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist and Andrew Symonds will make a huge difference.

"The recent losses, however, have given them a chance to look at their weaknesses and given other teams reason to go to the World Cup with renewed vigour."

Sobers retired in 1974 as the game's greatest allrounder, with 8,032 runs at 57.78 and 235 wickets at 34.03 in 93 Tests. He also scored 26 Test centuries, including a then world record score of 365 not out.

The record books credit him with having played a single one-day international, in which he did not score a run but Sobers insisted he never took part in limited-overs cricket.

"We defeated England in the Leeds Test of 1973 in three days and officials organised a one-day match to make up for the loss of two Test match days," he said.

"We were never told it was an official one-day international. So I refuse to admit I have played in one."

Sobers, however, said he would have relished playing the shorter version of the game.

"I would certainly have enjoyed it," he said. "But it would not have made a lot of difference to my style because I was always an attacking batsman, whether it was a Sunday afternoon game or a Test match.

"Twenty20 cricket is entertainment, which you need to get people to the venues. But it can't help develop players for Test cricket."

Asked to rank the current allrounders, Sobers said: "There are not many around who can walk into the team either as a batsman or a bowler.

"What I had not heard before was a wicketkeeping allrounder. That's a new one for me. Clyde Walcott was a great batsman and he also kept wickets but they never said he was an allrounder. But Adam Gilchrist is called one."

(Article: Copyright © 2007 AFP)