World Cup ticket sales hit for six

Ticket sales, on the opening day, for the 2003 World Cup in South Africa were hit out of the park yesterday when heavy demands put to much pressure on on-line and telephone sales.

Not only did the website fail, where it is reported that only 300 packages where sold, but the call-centre with problems of its own and the added burden of calls about the crashed web site, could only manage 7,400. The internet system that had been tested over and over again could not handle the 4,000 to 5,000 requests it received every minute.

Long queues at all 12 venues caused further problems with the Wanderers the worst hit. Breakdowns at the venue of the final resulted in only about 250 of the more than a 1,000 fans who camped outside the ground overnight able to get packages for the Wanderers before the sold out boards went up. Most of the Wanderers packages being sold at the other venues. Kingsmead was the next main venue to be sold out.

Cricket fans may still visit the Wanderers stadium ticket offices tomorrow if they wish to book stadium packages for any other venue or Follow the Team packages.

By the end of trading a total of 90,000, out of a possible 222,000 packages going on sale, were sold. The remainder will be available at all the venues until they are all sold. The web-site and call-centre will also remain open but the "busy server" message could be the order of the day.

Dissatisfied fans at the Wanderers had to be calmed down by Dr Bacher who added that "We will come back to you people... You will see World Cup cricket at the Wanderers." Names and contact details of these disgruntled fans have been recorded and they would be first in line should any packages become available. He explained that around the country, fans at other venues were also able to buy Wanderers packages. "We have always said that we want people from around the country to get a chance to attend the ICC Cricket World Cup final should they so desire."

Booking will continue from 09h00 (08:00GMT) at the 12 venues hosting ICC CWC matches, on the ticketing call-centre on 083 123 2003 and via the website on www.cricketworldcup.com.