The five home countries participated, who were represented by four player teams and were identified by coloured waistcoats.

It was played on a round robin basis with the top two meeting in the final.

For the final two years the event moved to the Hexagon Theatre in Reading.

In 2001 there were eight teams, as Thailand, Malta and China joined the competition.

It was planned to rename the event to World Cup in 2002, but it was abandoned because ITV discontinued their snooker coverage.