Here AFP Sports presents a guide to the form of the leading contenders:

INDIA

India, World Cup finalists in 2003, have slumped so badly this year that many fear they may not get past even the super-eight round at the World Cup.

Rahul Dravid's men lost eight of their last 10 completed one-dayers before embarking on the ongoing tour of South Africa where they face further trouble and humiliation.

Their recent record against the under-rated West Indies does not inspire confidence. Brian Lara's team beat India 4-1 at home in May and also won two of their next three one-dayers against the Indians away from the Caribbean.

Australian coach Greg Chappell's insistence on experimenting with the batting order and throwing in new players in difficult situations has not gone down well with the fans and the media.

There have been calls to bring back former captain Sourav Ganguly, who was sacked after a public row with Chappell last September, and another veteran batsman Venkatsai Laxman. But Chappell and the selectors have not obliged yet.

All, however, is not lost. India faced an early exit from the last World Cup in South Africa before Ganguly rallied his team to eight successive wins to reach the final where they lost to Australia.
  
AUSTRALIA

Australia will be favourites to defend the World Cup after breaking through for their first victory in the 'mini-World Cup' the Champions Trophy in India in November.

Ricky Ponting's Australians are the first team to hold the World Cup and Champions Trophy titles at the same time and are bidding for a hat-trick of World Cups in the Caribbean.

All-rounder Shane Watson is likely to open the innings with Adam Gilchrist after his impressive form in India, replacing Simon Katich at the top of the order.

Left-arm paceman Nathan Bracken, who claimed three key wickets in the Trophy final against the West Indies, is the leading wicket-taker in one-day internationals this year with 46 wickets at 18.82 in 23 matches.

Veterans Damien Martyn and Glenn McGrath also showed they still have plenty to offer heading into next year.

Martyn averaged 80.33 in the Champions Trophy, hitting an unbeaten 47 in a 103-run third-wicket stand with Watson in the final, while McGrath matched Bracken with 10 wickets for the tournament.

The Aussies have several all-rounders with athletic fielding skills in Andrew Symonds, Michael Clarke, Michael Hussey and Watson.

Australia has won 20 of their 28 one-day internationals this year
  
SRI LANKA

Sri Lanka, who won the 1996 World Cup and were semi-finalists in the last edition in South Africa, have enjoyed a good year despite the failure to make the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy.

Under Australian coach Tom Moody, Sri Lanka have won seven of the last nine one-dayers played against major teams, including a 5-0 drubbing of hosts England in June last year.

They went to the Champions Trophy as one of the favoured teams and easily beat Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and the West Indies to advance to the main tournament.

But the unexpected reverses against Pakistan and South Africa cost Mahela Jayawardene's side a place in the semi-finals.

Jayawardene, standing-in for the injured Marvan Atapattu since the tour of England, settled into the job so well that he was named the International Cricket Council's Captain of the Year in October.

The stylish middle-order batsman has also been named captain for the World Cup and has at his command veteran Sanath Jayasuriya, reliable 'keeper-batsman Kumar Sangakkara, seasoned seamer Chaminda Vaas and spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan.
Of the four South Asian teams, Sri Lanka has the best resources to go all the way at the World Cup.
  
PAKISTAN

Pakistan's one-day form has been mixed in 2006 with nine wins, eight defeats in their 19 matches with two no-results.

Despite improving upon their weakness of chasing a target, their fielding, failure in finding a permanent pair of openers and letting off the opponents at crucial stages have been their main weaknesses.

"Pakistan's main worry in one-day cricket is experimenting too much with the pair of openers. If a team doesn't get a good start then pressure comes on the middle order and it crumbles," said former skipper Imran Khan who led Pakistan to the 1992 World Cup.

"I'm also surprised at Inzamam-ul-Haq not coming at number four, you bat your best batsman up the order and his batting at five is one of the reasons why Pakistan is not doing well in one-day cricket."

Pakistan's recent indifferent form also coincides with the poor form of all-rounder Shahid Afridi and Inzamam's lack of playing match winning innings.

Afridi, who holds the record of the fastest one-day hundred off just 37 balls made against Sri Lanka in 1997, has managed just 114 runs at a meagre 8.14 in 17 matches this year.

Inzamam's 408 runs in 16 have just one half-century. His last century came two years ago.

Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf have been the main run-getters for Pakistan but they too have not been able to guide the team to the finish. Getting out between 35-40 overs in the run chase has been Yousuf's main weakness.

Without their inspirational captain Inzamam and key strike bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif, both recalled from India due to failed dope tests, Pakistan did show a lot of character by beating a formidable Sri Lankan team in their opening Champions Trophy match. But they let off both New Zealand and South Africa after dismissing their top order in the first 20 overs.
  
ENGLAND

Confused and uncertain - and that's often before they've taken the field - the fact England are currently eighth in the ICC's one-day championship table with only minnows Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and Kenya beneath them says much about their recent limited overs record.

And in that England - three times a losing finalist in 1979, 1987 and 1992 - have gone into the last few World Cups emotionally and physically spent on the back of losing, injury-hit Ashes tours and it's easy to see why few give them much hope in the Caribbean.

England coach Duncan Fletcher, so much more sure-footed in the Test arena, has picked, dropped and picked again the likes of seamers Jon Lewis and Kabir Ali.

Meanwhile premier strike bowler Steve Harmison has often proved an expensive luxury in one-dayers, his ten overs for 97 against Sri Lanka at Headingley in July the most expensive in internationals.

But in 20-year-old Stuart Broad, who made his one-day international debut during the last English season, England do have a fast bowler of real promise at this level.

In batting, England lack a dynamic opening partnership and Marcus Trescothick's mental health problems threaten to rob them of a reliable run-scorer at the top of the order.

And Andrew Flintoff's repeated absences from one-dayers because of injury have harmed the balance of the side. If, and it's a big if, the star all-rounder can stay fit, England might just have a slim chance of upsetting the odds.
  
SOUTH AFRICA

On form or off, South Africa have endured a hate-hate relationship with the World Cup.

In their debut year of 1992, they were sunk by the rain rules in their semi-final against England which left them chasing 22 off one ball.

In 1996, they lost in the quarter-finals to the West Indies. It was their first defeat in the tournament; the West Indies had already been beaten three times in the group stages.

Three years later, they were beaten again the last four. They tied with Australia after a dramatic last ball run-out, and the Aussies went through because of their better record in the Super Sixes.

On home soil, in 2003, events took another bizarre turn when they lost to Sri Lanka in a rain-affected tie after miscalculating the required run rate.

Shaun Pollock paid a heavy price by losing his job as skipper but the veteran all-rounder is running into form in time for the 2007 tournament as evidenced by his 33 runs and 4-26 in South Africa's 106-run win over India last week.

Jacques Kallis is also a key figure. He smashed 119 and took three wickets in the first win over India in the recent series, a whopping 157-run win.
  
NEW ZEALAND

Although New Zealand reached the semi-finals in the Champions Trophy and moved up to third on the world rankings, the performance did nothing to cover up the shortcomings of the side.

New Zealand lack depth. They are a team built around a handful of class acts.

They need Stephen Fleming, Scott Styris, Brendon McCullum and the aging Nathan Astle to fire with the bat, and the injury-prone Shane Bond and spinner Daniel Vettori on line with the ball.

When most if not all the sextet are on song, they are deservedly among the best one-day sides as shown by their 87-run win over South Africa and 51-run win over Pakistan in the Champions Trophy.

But on a bad day, particularly if the experienced Fleming is out cheaply, New Zealand look very ordinary as seen by their seven-wicket hiding by Sri Lanka and 34-run loss to Australia in the same tournament.

The three other top order batsmen used in India struggle against true international class bowlers - compiling just 55 runs in a total of 10 innings - which may see wicketkeeper McCullum promoted up the order for the World Cup.
  
WEST INDIES

West Indies performances in one-day internationals up to this point in 2006 have raised optimism in the Caribbean that they can become the first host nation to win the World Cup.

This confidence is not misplaced, since the Caribbean side has won 16 of the 24 matches they have contested so far this year, including a morale-boosting 4-1 win in a bilateral series against India at home.

They also reached the finals of a three-nation series in Malaysia and the ICC Champions Trophy in India, where they were overpowered on both occasions by world champions Australia, whom they had beaten in earlier matches in the two competitions.

Brian Lara, in his third stint as West Indies captain, acknowledges that the defeats to Australia in the two finals may be attributed to stage fright.

Lara reckons if they can get this aspect of their game corrected, and maintain the consistency they have shown in one-dayers this year, then he expects West Indies to be in the frame for the title.

Most of the places in the starting line-up appear settled.

Chris Gayle and Shivnarine Chanderpaul are likely to be the opening pair while Lara, the hardworking Runako Morton, and the silky Ramnaresh Sarwan will form a solid middle-order.

Dwayne Bravo and Dwayne Smith hold down two spots as seam bowling all-rounders, whose athleticism in the field make them invaluable, but the little-known Darren Sammy is equally capable.

Jerome Taylor has emerged from a spell of injury setbacks to become the undisputed spearhead of the attack, and the medium-fast left-arm pace of Ian Bradshaw offers him steady support with the new ball.

Others like the steady Corey Collymore, the pacy Fidel Edwards, the lanky Andrew Richardson, and the hardworking Daren Powell could all come into the reckoning.

Groups and fixtures for the 2007 Cricket World Cup:

Warm-up matches:
March 5: Bermuda v England (Arnos Vale Ground, Kingstown, St Vincent)
Scotland v Sri Lanka (Three Ws Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados)
South Africa v Ireland (Sir Frank Worrell Memorial Ground, St Augustine, Trinidad)
Kenya v West Indies (Trelawny Stadium, Jamaica)

March 6: Australia v Zimbabwe (Arnos Vale Ground, Kingstown, St Vincent)
Bangladesh v New Zealand (Three Ws Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados)
Pakistan v Canada (Sir Frank Worrell Memorial Ground, St Augustine, Trinidad)
India v Netherlands (Trelawny Stadium, Jamaica)

March 8: Bangladesh v Scotland (Three Ws Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados)
Bermuda v Zimbabwe (Arnos Vale Ground, Kingstown, St Vincent)
Canada v Ireland (Sir Frank Worrell Memorial Ground, St Augustine, Trinidad)
Kenya v Netherlands (Trelawny Stadium, Jamaica)

March 9: New Zealand v Sri Lanka (Three Ws Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados)
Australia v England (Arnos Vale Ground, Kingstown, St Vincent)
Pakistan v South Africa (Sir Frank Worrell Memorial Ground, St Augustine, Trinidad)
India v West Indies (Trelawny Stadium, Jamaica)

March 11: OPENING CEREMONY (Trelawny Stadium, Jamaica)

GROUP STAGE
Group A Group B Group C Group D
A1: Australia B1: Sri Lanka C1: New Zealand D1: Pakistan
A2: South Africa B2: India C2: England D2: West Indies
A3: Scotland B3: Bangladesh C3: Kenya D3: Zimbabwe
A4: Holland B4: Bermuda C4: Canada D4: Ireland

Venues
Group A - St Kitts
Group B - Trinidad and Tobago
Group C - St. Lucia
Group D - Jamaica

Fixtures
Tue 13 Mar WIS v PAK
Wed 14 Mar AUS v SCO, KEN v CAN
Thu 15 Mar SRI v BER, ZIM v IRL
Fri 16 Mar RSA v NED, ENG v NZL
Sat 17 Mar IND v BAN, PAK v IRL
Sun 18 Mar AUS v HOL, ENG v CAN
Mon 19 Mar IND v BER, WIS v ZIM
Tue 20 Mar RSA v SCO, NZL v KEN
Wed 21 Mar SRI v BAN, ZIM v PAK
Thu 22 Mar SCO v NED, NZL v CAN
Fri 23 Mar IND v SRI, WIS v IRL
Sat 24 Mar AUS v RSA, ENG v KEN
Sun 25 Mar BER v BAN

Super Eight Series (top two from each group progress though none from the same group play each other in Super Eight.)

Tue 27 Mar D2 v A1
Wed 28 Mar A2 v B1
Thu 29 Mar D2 v C1
Fri 30 Mar D1 v C2
Sat 31 Mar A1 v B2
Sun 01 Apr D2 v B1
Mon 02 Apr B2 v C1
Tue 03 Apr D1 v A2
Wed 04 Apr C2 v B1
Sat 07 Apr B2 v A2
Sun 08 Apr A1 v C2
Mon 09 Apr D1 v C1
Tue 10 Apr D2 v A2
Wed 11 Apr C2 v B2
Thu 12 Apr B1 v C1
Fri 13 Apr A1 v D1
Sat 14 Apr A2 v C1
Sun 15 Apr B2 v D1
Mon 16 Apr A1 v B1
Tue 17 Apr A2 v C2
Wed 18 Apr D1 v B1
Thu 19 Apr D2 v B2
Fri 20 Apr A1 v C1
Sat 21 Apr D2 v C2

Semi Finals
Tue 24 Apr Super Eight 2 v Super Eight 3 Jamaica
Wed 25 Apr Super Eight 1 v Super Eight 4St Lucia

Final
Barbados
Sat 28 Apr