ST JOHN'S, Antigua (CMC):

Former West Indies batting maestro Sir Vivian Richards believes Guyana will have a tougher time repeating as champions than their August 2006 effort that landed them the inaugural title.

Sir Viv is the Stanford Twenty20 legend attached to Guyana.

Yeah man, it's going to be much harder for them since they are the very first winners and they will be the marked team this time around," he said.

"They are a very strong team but I hope they don't have any preconceived ideas that because they won last year they will automatically do it again. They will have to lift their game.

"And remember that now there are pro teams and all the other players know the rewards here and what happened last time," the former West Indies skipper said.

Sir Viv, the legend also assigned to Bermuda - coincidentally the team - that Guyana will face in their opening match on February 10, says that he has been following Guyana's preparation for the competition and hopes that the rain in Guyana is not a major problem.

"I have spoken to Chetram Singh (president of Guyana Cricket Board) and he has told me that the guys have been doing a lot of work despite the weather, and I am sure that having tasted success before, the guys will be very keen to go out and defend their title."

On tv

According to the Stanford Organisation, the 2008 competition, which still has more overall prize money at stake than any other cricket tournament, will be available to more television viewers than any other cricket tournament including the World Cup.

"The TV coverage of this competition will be all over the world so that the new players will be seen not only by local fans but also by journalists and officials outside of the region also. This is a perfect opportunity to highlight our talent especially at a time when our West Indies team is not doing too well.

"The West Indies board places very little emphasis on the promotion of their competitions and this (20/20 tournament) gives players from places like Cayman Islands, Bahamas, Turks & Caicos ... places where cricket is not a big thing - (the chance) to be showcased," Sir Viv explained.