Zero tolerance for 2003 CWC pitch invasions

South Africa is to adopt a policy of zero tolerance towards pitch invasions during the 2003 World Cup with no unauthorised persons being permitted on the field during play. This resolve is likely to be tested to its fullest during the opening match of the tournament at Newlands on February 6 with England now shaping up to face the host country in front of what is bound to be a capacity crowd.

Against a backdrop of disturbing pitch invasions during the NatWest Series in England, 2003 CWC executive director Ali Bacher was in London last week to brief the ICC on the organisation of the tournament. Although Bacher's address to the ICC dealt with the World Cup as a whole, events in England have thrown the question of security into sharp relief .

Bacher's position is that he does not want a single spectator to invade the field during the length of the tournament. To this end a directorate, headed by Patrick Ronan, has been set up to co-ordinate security matters.

There is a general perception that security at South African grounds is conducted mainly through the use of dogs. This, however, is not the case, according to Rory Steyn, security consultant to both the United Cricket and the World Cup organising committee.

Dogs are occasionally used at some grounds, said Steyn, "but only as a visual deterrent. They are not used actively to enforce security".

Exactly what measures are eventually used remain to be seen, but among the proposals already put to World Cup ground managers are the erection of temporary moats consisting of an inner and an outer ring of advertising hoardings, spaced about two metres apart and with swimming pool netting strung between them. The principle is that would-be invaders become entangled in the netting, allowing them to be dealt with by security personnel.

The possibility of England featuring in the opening match of the tournament has come about as a result the side's dismal form during the NatWest series. The pools for the 2003 World Cup are to be decided on one-day form from June 21 1999 until the end of September this year with Kenya and the first three teams from the ICC Trophy in Toronto making up the numbers.

England's disastrous NatWest form has seen them slip three places down the international table and as things stand at the moment they would be placed in Pool B along with South Africa. If this is the case, then the South Africans would almost certainly ask England, their oldest historic rivals, to take part in opening match.

There is still some fluidity in terms of the pool allocations. For instance, if the West Indies were to win three out of a possible five games in their current triangular series in Zimbabwe, they would move up the table, past England, and into Pool B with England slipping back into Pool A.

Based on results from June 21 last year to June 17, the pools for the 2003 World Cup would line up as follows:

GROUP A Australia Pakistan India West Indies Zimbabwe Winner of ICC Trophy (in Toronto) Runner-up of ICC Trophy

GROUP B South Africa Sri Lanka New Zealand England Bangladesh Kenya Third place at ICC Trophy

Bacher's other announcement of significance was a five-fold increase in prize money for the 2003 tournament, from $1-million in 1999 to $5-million. As yet the breakdown of this prize has not been decided, but international captains are currently being canvassed for their views.

In all, the 2003 World Cup will consist of 54 matches spread over a 49-day period. There will be 42 playing days during this time, with all matches having a reserve day allocated and two reserve days for the final. If a reserve day is necessary, then an entirely new game will be played.

For the most part, the games will be daytime affairs with only matches in Cape Town and Durban being played under lights. This takes into account the dew factor that has affected day/night matches in South Africa during February and March in the past.

Television audience around the world will be taken into consideration with the West Indies likely to play most of their games in the evenings and Australia and New Zealand being allocated day games.