EVERYWHERE you go on the island of Antigua, the passion of cricket is burning brightly.

And those flames have been well and truly fanned by the multi-million dollar investment made by Allen Stanford and all anyone wants to do here now is talk about the sport.

Bermuda's brave soldiers ? scheduled to take on the mighty Chris Gayle and Jamaica tonight ? arrived at the VC Bird International Airport on Wednesday night, just an hour before the hosts beat St. Lucia in the busiest game of the tournament so far.

There were hundreds of noisy fans queuing up outside the Stanford Cricket Ground waiting for a chance to watch their local heroes ? and hundreds more stuck in traffic jams on the way in, some of whom were most likely left disappointed.

The injection of $28 million to create a first-class event combined with free entry to the matches has created a Cup Match-style buzz around the island that is a delight to behold.

From the guy frying chicken at the splendidly named Jolly Beach Resort, to the dealer at the blackjack table in the Grand Princess Casino to the various shuttle and bus drivers operating around Jolly Harbour, all the talk was cricket.

And when they weren't talking about victory for mighty Antiguans they were only too happy to offer unsolicited opinions on Bermuda's chances.

"Watch out for the Chris Gayle, man, he is a mighty fine player," explained one slightly inebriated shuttle bus driver.

"He is going to do for you, not a chance, man, you guys are going home, his boys will take the prize ? a million dollars for Jamaica." Although expressed less vigorously, that was the general opinion among the armchair pundits around the island ahead of what, on paper, looks to be a tough clash with the Jamaicans.

But, as coach Gus Logie has pointed out before using that horrible clich?, 'cricket is not played on paper' and the Bermudians are absolutely convinced that a victory against one of the tournament's 'Big Four' is possible.

Although they have already expressed a passionate dislike for all the travelling involved if they win ? they would have to leave tomorrow and come back on Wednesday giving them an extra 30 hours on the road ? the confidence is still there.

All the talk has been of the spinners, with Bermuda set to use at least two possibly three, and, of course, Chris Gayle and how 'it only takes one ball'.

The average score in the tournament so far is around 135, a good 50 or so less than in April's Classic, as even the bigger teams have failed to really rack up the unreachable totals.

Throw in the fact that Bermuda probably have more experience, as a team, than most of the other competitors in this tournament and you have a classic David versus Goliath victory on the horizon.

"Chris Gayle is one man and we have more than our fair share of matchwinners," said one of the Bermuda players during the long journey in to Antigua.

"We like being underdogs and we are here to win."