World Cup champions Australia will start their defence of their title in a repeat of the 1999 final against Pakistan at the Wanderers in Johannesburg on February 11 according to the 2003 World Cup schedule released in Durban on Saturday.

However, a rematch of the dramatic tied World Cup semi-final between Australia and South Africa will not take place until the Super Six of the 2003 tournament. The two countries, who will probably start as joint favourites for the tournament, are drawn in opposite pools.

The draw involves 54 matches to be played over 43 days at 12 venues in South Africa, two in Zimbabwe and Nairobi in Kenya. It will, as World Cup executive director Ali Bacher said, place South Africa and Africa at the centre of the world stage.

The tournament will open at Newlands on February 9 where South Africa meet the West Indies and conclude on March 23 with the final at the Wanderers.

The fixtures have been divided into three categories: A class games which will involve Test-playing nations meeting each other; B class matches in which a Test-playing country will play one of the qualifiers; and C class games in which two of the tournament's minnows will meet each other. Of interest is the fact that the C class games will be staged at South Africa's major stadiums to make the World Cup experience more memorable for players from the lesser nations. Kenya will play Canada at Newlands, for instance, while Namibia will meet Holland at Goodyear Park in Bloemfontein.

The two semi-finals have already been allocated to Kingsmead in Durban and St George's Park in Port Elizabeth. But SuperSport Park in Centurion will feature some of the plummest games in the preliminary round – Australia against India on February 15 and India against Pakistan on March 1.

It is expected that the tournament will attract in the region of 800 000 spectators to the matches and a worldwide television audience of 1.2-billion is anticipated.

In order to accommodate this television audience, matches have been scheduled to fit in with the various time zones around the world. The dew factor in South Africa has ensured that only 10 games will be day/night matches under floodlights, all of them in either Cape Town or Durban.

The tournament will be preceded by an opening ceremony at Newlands in Cape Town on Feburary 8.

© CricInfo