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More work needs to be done on the portable pitch at Jade Stadium before it is approved to host international cricket matches, says Canterbury captain Gary Stead.

Stead was speaking yesterday after the first four-day Shell Trophy first-class match played on a portable wicket, between Canterbury and Central Districts, was drawn.

Stead said the wicket was rather lifeless and did not have enough bounce and carry to be classified as a good pitch.

He felt it should not yet be approved by the International Cricket Council for major matches. ICC match referee Graham Dowling and former referee Frank Cameron, both of Christchurch, are compiling a report on the wicket for the ICC, which will also receive copies of the captains' and umpires' reports.

``The wicket also had little in it for the bowlers - pace or spin. As a batsman few pulls or hooks were played, you just had to get on the front foot and could stay there all day,'' Stead said.

However, Stead felt the portable pitch had a future at multi-use stadiums if pace and bounce could be generated in succeeding wickets.

``I think it would need another trial before getting a tick from the ICC,'' Stead said.

Groundsman Chris Lewis said the pitch would only get better as he had limited preparation time.

The slow pace was largely because of the late sowing in mid-November, which allowed little time for the young grass to consolidate. That was caused by modifications having to be made to the tray depth after concerns that the first portable pitch wicket had not enough clay base to last four days.

``I was happy with how we got through considering the late start,'' Lewis said.

``The wicket held together well and there was nothing untoward in how it played.''

The Victory Park Board took over the pitch preparation from developer Portable Pitches Worldwide, in consultation with New Zealand Cricket, and the New Zealand Turf Culture Institute.

``It was agreed we were the best placed on site to oversee the work on the wicket,'' Lewis said.

Lewis said he had been unable to use the heavy roller on the wicket when it was being prepared on the back ground because of its freshness. When he tried to compact it after it had been placed on the Oval with the roller it spread, necessitating some patch-up work. He is confident that will be overcome by earlier preparation.

Central Districts coach Dipak Patel, a former New Zealand representative, said he was unsure how the wicket would play when he first examined it and felt it could break up.

``It looked slightly under-prepared and would not last four days.''

``But the longer the game went the more bounce and carry it seemed to gain as it compacted. I think if they can iron one or two things out it has a real future.''

``I'm sure the groundsman's learnt a lot from this one. The surface was very flat.''

Another interested observer at the ground was Auckland Cricket's chief executive, Lindsay Crocker, who was watching developments with an eye to using the system at Eden Park.

As for the match itself, it produced 1055 runs for the loss of just 20 wickets at an average of almost 53 per wicket.

Canterbury successfully stalled Central Districts' attempt to win the match outright yesterday thanks to the determined efforts of Craig Cumming and Stead, who batted 196 minutes together to force an early finish.

Canterbury had given Central Districts a sniff of victory when it lost two early wickets within the space of eight runs to Andrew Penn's persistent medium-fast deliveries. But Cumming and Stead combined to thwart the Central attack, whose most penetrative bowler was leg spinner Tim Anderson. He managed to extract some turn, especially from the footmarks.