A worker carries wood into Providence Stadium in Georgetown yesterday. Concerns about the playing conditions in Providence Stadium mounted yesterday after South Africa abandoned their nets session, complaining the surface was not up to standard. The venue is scheduled to host six Super Eights matches, starting with South Africa versus Sri Lanka today, but fears are growing that the stadium may not be ready in time.

GEORGETOWN,

Guyana, (Reuters):

CONCERNS ABOUT the playing conditions in Providence Stadium mounted yesterday after South Africa abandoned their nets session, complaining the surface was not up to standard.

The venue is scheduled to host six Super Eights matches, starting with South Africa versus Sri Lanka today, but fears are growing that the stadium may not be ready in time.

"It's very frustrating not to be able to train properly for two days in a row, but we're not going to let that get us down," South African coach Mickey Arthur said.

"I'll take these worries on to my shoulders and sort them out and leave the players to concentrate on the game."

South African captain Graeme Smith was seen shaking his head as he walked away from nets having faced only a handful of throwdowns.

Fielding session

His team opted for a fielding session instead.

A short while later, team manager Goolam Rajah was seen in animated conversation with Andy Atkinson, the International Cricket Council (ICC) pitch consultant for the tournament.

Persistent rain on Monday and yesterday did not help matters and visitors to the ground have had to wade through a muddy parking lot, while ground staff mopped up standing water in corridors inside some of the buildings.

However, Sri Lanka coach Tom Moody remained optimistic. "It looks a good surface and the outfield looks magnificent considering the weather they've had," Moody said yesterday.

"There wasn't a huge amount of grass on the square which is what you tend to get in Colombo.

"But how it plays is stilla mystery to us all because it's a new surface, it's only been laid for eight or nine months.

"There's moisture in the surface but there doesn't seem to be a huge amount of pace in it."

Clinical performance

Sri Lanka made the other major teams in the tournament sit up and take notice when they delivered a clinical performance to beat India by 69 runs in their Group B match in Port of Spain, Trinidad on March 23.

"Finishing games off and being professional from start to finish is something we talk about on a regular basis, and that was a big game for us," said Moody, who lent similar importance to today's match.

"South Africa are a big scalp," he said. "They're number one, and rightly so, they've played some good cricket over the past 12 months.

"A win tomorrow will put us in a good position, because I wouldn't have thought South Africa are going to lose too many games in the Super Eights."

South African all-rounder Andrew Hall held a similarly respectful opinion of the Sri Lankans.

"They have played really well leading up to the Super Eights," Hall said. "It's always a tough challenge going up against them, especially in conditions that suit them a bit."

Hall said the South Africans hoped to improve on their recent record against Sri Lanka.

- Reuters