Capacity crowd swayed opinion on pitch

ST AUGUSTINE, Trinidad, Mar 10 (Reuters) A sell-out crowd was an important factor in the decision to continue the World Cup warm-up match between Pakistan and South Africa in St Augustine, opposing coaches Bob Woolmer and Mickey Arthur said.

Play was interrupted for seven minutes after the South Africans, who were put in to bat, expressed concern over what they considered was an unfit pitch.

''Mickey and (captain) Graeme Smith both consider the pitch unfit for play,'' South African media manager Gordon Templeton told reporters.

Play resumed after umpires Peter Parker and Ian Gould decided the pitch was not dangerous. South Africa were dismissed for 199.

Pakistan replied with 200 for three in 44.3 overs to win by seven wickets.

''It was a tale of two pitches,'' South African coach Arthur told a news conference. ''It was pretty damp this morning and had the coin fallen the other way the result may have been different.'' Arthur said the South Africans' objection to the pitch had been prompted by the risk of injury.

''The last thing we needed was to lose a player like Jacques Kallis to a ball that reared up off the pitch,'' he said.

In the end, consideration for a bumper crowd, estimated by the organisers to number 5,000, carried the most weight.

''You couldn't just cancel it, it was a sold-out game and there would have been repercussions down the line if it was called off,'' Arthur said.

South Africa also struggled on a damp pitch in their other warm-up match, against Ireland at the same venue on Monday, and Friday's events means their batsmen could be under-prepared going into the tournament.

''If my info is right the pitches in the tournament proper will be much better than this one,'' Arthur said.

''We're hoping the toss won't be as crucial in the tournament as it was today, but it certainly looks like it will be a bowl-first competition.

''My priority is to get players like Smith, AB de Villiers, Jacques Kallis and Herschelle Gibbs into some sort of form.

''The problem is we need to get them into the form pretty quickly now.'' Woolmer concurred with Arthur that the crowd's interests received top priority.

''There was concern, because five balls really took off and a few went along the ground,'' he said.

''But there were over 3,500 people in the ground and we felt we had a duty to continue with the game.'' Pakistan have bounced back well after losing both the test and one-day series on their tour of South Africa this season, which did not surprise Woolmer.

''This is the World Cup, this is the big time, this is where everyone has to put in the big performances,'' he said.

Reuters DKS VP0418