the Bermuda Broadcasting Company will again be supplying live coverage of a series from the Caribbean is bound to make thousands of Bermuda cricket fans happy.

But while BBC confirmed yesterday that they had once again secured exclusive rights to televise the series -- which begins this morning at 9.35 with the first of five one-day Internationals -- it was learned that the decision to bring the Cable and Wireless Series to local TV (ZFB TV-7/Cable 2) was made even though all the advertising spots have not yet been sold.

"We've done this irrespective of the cost, and if we recover it in advertising, super, but if we don't at least we will have satisfied our viewership and gotten them more committed to our efforts...there's a value on that,'' said BBC Marketing Manager Rick Wynn yesterday.

Partial ball-by-ball radio coverage will also be provided for the Test matches, beginning with the first one on March 31. Coverage on weekdays will begin after the tea break at 4 p.m. through to the end of the day's play and weekends after lunch (12.45) to the end of play.

It was a year ago that thousands of local residents sat glued to their sets and watched history being made as Brian Lara eclipsed Sir Gary Sobers' Test record when he scored 375 in the Test match against England in Antigua.

All the one-day matches will be carried in their entirety while the four Tests will also be covered live, the whole day's play on the weekends and after tea in midweek. (See page 24 for TV schedule and page 26 for related story).

Since live coverage began in the Caribbean with the series between the West Indies and England in 1990, it has become one of the biggest attractions on local TV.

This is the third event of a four-year sponsorship agreement between Cable and Wireless and the West Indies Cricket Board of Control which is worth US$2 million. The next team to visit the Caribbean will be New Zealand in 1996.

In the last few years the number of Bermudians travelling to the various Islands to watch the cricket has increased dramatically and this month and next thousands will be making the trek to watch the series that is being dubbed as the unofficial World Championship between the top two Test teams in the world.

It is that popularity that has convinced BBC that coverage of the series is worth the investment.

"I can only speak from a commercial perspective because it's certainly not an inexpensive endeavour,'' said Wynn. "We feel, based on our feel for our viewership, that it's something that Bermuda wants.

"Certainly the travel agents will tell you that they are booked well in advance in respect to Bermudians heading to Barbados or the West Indies in general for Test cricket, which is a further indication that Test cricket is something that our viewers want to have access to.'' The West Indies are unbeaten at home in a Test series since the early 1970s and three of the key figures in the upcoming series will be the West Indies pair of Lara and Curtley Ambrose and Australia's Shane Warne, rated as the world's top spin bowler.

Shane Warne