Cape Town's biggest night

Grey smoke and grey clouds: Lord's in 1999

BBC Sport Online's Oliver Brett looks at how preparations for the 2003 World Cup opening ceremony in Cape Town are developing at a ferocious pace.

Wisden described the opening ceremony of the 1999 World Cup as "quite pathetic."

It took place on 14 May, which is a precarious time of year in England, and it was raining.

Michael Browning, an Australian, was hired as master of ceremonies and decided to do something different.

No awe-inspiring glamour and glitz - not even a procession of the 12 teams walking onto the field was in evidence.

Instead, Browning enlisted a few reluctant-looking schoolgirls to stand around in the freezing cold while a few tacky fireworks were set off.

Opening ceremony 2002 performers

Circus skills

Cultural dancers

Township dancers

Ballet dancers

Cape minstrels

500-member acapella choir

Professional and semi-professional dancers

Show bands

Drum majorettes

Rhythmic gymnasts

Character actors

Models

Next year in Cape Town promises to be a very different affair.

Already, serious recruitment is underway for volunteers in 12 categories.

Opening ceremony producer Penny Jones spoke to BBC Sport Online in the midst of the second round of auditions as organisers attempt to whittle down the field of overall performers to 5,000.

"We are over-subscribed by three times," she said.

"We have to make the opportunity available to everyone who seeks an audition, following the Olympic protocol.

"It's very fast - they learn a very simple routine, and we see how quickly they can pick up commands and decisions.

The teams at the 1992 World Cup in Australia

"Then they show us their speciality, whether it's dancing, choral or presenting circus skills."

Jones, born in Bognor Regis on the south coast of England, went on to explain exactly how important the opening ceremony is to South Africans.

"The country as a whole, led by tournament director Dr Ali Bacher, want to have a stadium theatre production.

"We just missed the 2004 Olympics and - by just one vote - the 2006 World Cup.

"I think the country's attitude is that we are using this as an opportunity to host a stand-alone gala to advertise the country as a whole.

"Dr Bacher could have decided just to have a few singers but he went to Sydney for the opening ceremony of the Olympics and he was flabbergasted by what he saw, and by the impact of tourism to Australia."

Jones's excitement about the event - which will be staged the night before the opening fixture at Newlands between the host country and the West Indies - is unbounded, 10 months before the competition starts.

Calcutta, 1996: A lot better than the Lord's effort

She said: "You just can't buy this sort of advert for the country.

"And the fact that so many volunteers are offering to show their talent for their country - for something that has never been done before in South Africa."

The show will also have a local theme. Cape Town is home to the Cape Minstrels - performers dressed in brightly-coloured satin garb and flat caps.

By the end of April, Jones hopes to have all her performers in place - and they will be assisted by a crew of 800.

It means the ceremony will be bigger in size than the Winter Olympics earlier this year but not as big as the Sydney Games.

The age range of 'cast members' is officially eight to 80. "I know there are some very mature six-year-olds but the performers will preferably be no younger than eight," added Jones.

In the same way that the 1999 World Cup started with a damp squib - and generally struggled to capture the imagination from then on - maybe it's a good omen that the 2003 World Cup opening looks to be a very different prospect.