Governor Sir John Vereker made no bones about who he'd be supporting when he takes his seat today for the historic cricket international between England and Bermuda in both sides' first official World Cup warm-up game.

The Englishman, accompanied by Lady Vereker and Police Commissioner George Jackson, a native St. Vincention, dropped in on the Bermuda squad during training on Saturday morning, telling the players he was behind them all the way.

"There's no chance of mixed allegiances at all," insisted Sir John.

"If you ask either of us who we are supporting, the answer is absolutely crystal clear, we are supporting Bermuda and the fact that it is England, I have this to say: 'England be afraid, be very afraid'!"

On a more realistic note, the Governor, who donned one of the side's new World Cup shirts, said he would be delighted if Bermuda's players "acquitted themselves well in what, after all, is world class competition".

"We've got to be realistic," he added. "The competition includes the best teams in the world and Bermuda is a small place, 64,000 people. We're playing a team with a population 100 times that size, so we can't expect miracles.

"But you know they took a lot of runs off Bangladesh the other day, I think they can take a few runs off England and we can have some fun."

Admitting he wasn't a fanatical follower of the game, Sir John said he was still looking forward to such an historic occasion - the first time the two sides had ever met in an official match.

"To be absolutely honest I wouldn't describe myself as a serious cricket fan," he said. "I don't know a huge amount about the game. I enjoy Cup Match, we both enjoy that, but no, we're not exactly groupies going all over the place to watch cricket.

"The Premier and I are dividing our labours. I'm here to see Bermuda take a few runs off England and he's going to go down to Trinidad and see them take a few runs off India."

The showdown between England and Bermuda is not part of the ICC World Cup Cricket package offered for $200 by MP Glenn Blakeney's Inter-Island Communications company, which runs radio station 107.5.

Last night Mr. Blakeney said: "The warm-up match will be shown for free on digital cable channel 531 for those who have digital cable, but will be part of the package during the formal matches.

"We have got CableVision to cooperate and they have opened channels 531 and 532 to show the formal matches live."

In addition, senior citizens in rest homes will now be able to watch the ICC World Cup for free, all they have to do is call CableVision to request the access, Mr. Blakeney said yesterday. Controversy surrounded the decision earlier this year to have to subscribe for $200 to watch TV of the cricket team in its World Cup debut.

Shadow Sports Minister Jon Brunson told The Royal Gazette earlier this year he believed the ICC World Cup should be broadcast for free since people have already paid through taxes for the sport to receive $11 million from Government.