With 159 days to go, West Indian cricket officials are insisting that the various islands preparing to host the 2007 World Cup will be ready when it matters.

Sure, rotating teams of Chinese labourers are now working three shifts per day to try and finish two major stadiums, and sure, St Lucia doesn’t have anywhere near enough accommodation for the expected crowd, but this is the West Indies. Relax.

In Grenada, the imported Chinese builders are working hard to repair Queen’s Park, which was damaged by Hurricane Ivan a couple of years ago, while the brand new Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua has lagged from the start, and is now in turbo-build mode, by all accounts. Even Kensington Oval, in Barbados, which will host the final, is still a building site.

To add to the international cricket world’s nervousness about the event, hurricane season is approaching once more and, as has been well documented, the last few years have seen an intensity of lethal storms.

The only person apparently unconcerned is the event’s managing director, Chris Dehring, who told The Guardian: “Not withstanding the odd bump or two, the Cricket World Cup train is building a powerful head of steam and is very much on track.”

Well, that’s OK then. To be fair to the organisers, the logistics of holding the World Cup across the Windies, with nine separate islands and countries hosting games, was always going to be difficult. Dehring says everybody is working together, to minimise difficulties for the visiting teams, fans and media. The whole region will be declared “one domestic space” for the duration of the event, so passports only need be stamped once and fans won’t endure customs and immigration every time they island-hop.

But there are some practicalities that seem unavoidable. There are plans to have ocean liners moored off St Lucia, where England will be competing among others, to act as floating hotels. The whole island only has 4500 hotel beds. But hey, if it looks like this, why not sleep on the beach?