To avoid congestion on ticket sales channels, the public are to be given a four-week window of opportunity starting on October 8 to apply for tickets for individual matches for the ICC Cricket World Cup South Africa 2003.

The Ticket Window, sometimes known as a ticket ballot or lottery, will give every applicant an equal chance of getting seats for individual matches. There are no guarantees of success, but no one will be prejudiced.

Similar processes are used at the Wimbledon tennis championships, the Olympic Games and for the 2003 Rugby World Cup in Australia.

A total of about 100 000 individual tickets are currently available.

On any day between October 8 and November 8, members of the public can make application for individual matches on any of the three ticket sales channels - at the CWC stadiums themselves, on the official website www.cricketworldcup.com or via the callcentre hotline on 083-123-2003.

No one will benefit by being first in the "queue". All applications during the four-week window will stand an equal chance of success.

The games are classified Grade 1 and Grade 2 according to the number of tickets available for each. People applying for games for which 2000 tickets or fewer are available (Grade 1) will be restricted to 4 tickets per game and a maximum of 16 in all for Grade 1 games. For Grade 2 games (where 2000 or more tickets are available), people may apply for up to a maximum of 50 tickets per game.

There will be a random draw for each match. The names of all people who applied for a particular match will go into the draw. Names will be randomly selected by computer until all the seats available for the match have been assigned to winners. The random draw from November 25 will be closely monitored by the auditing firm Deloitte and Touche.

Current holders of Stadium Packages for Wanderers in Johannesburg, Supersport Park in Centurion, Kingsmead in Durban, Newlands in Cape Town and St George's Park in Port Elizabeth cannot apply through the Ticket Window for individual matches at those venues.

The CWC 2003 Final in Johannesburg next March 23 is totally sold out and does not feature in the Ticket Window.

CWC organizers point out that demand for tickets is again expected to far outweigh supply. Not everyone will be successful, but at least would-be purchasers will know that they have as much chance as the next person.

The Ticket Window random draw will take place from November 25 and customers' success or failure will be conveyed to them from December 2, at which time the successful applicants may make their purchases until the cutoff date on January 10. Thereafter, they will forfeit the chance to purchase the tickets allocated to them.

No money will change hands until customers have been notified of their success. Tickets will then be sold to them on the sales channel of their choice.

Apart from the website, Ticket Window applications may be made on the callcentre hotline between 07h00 SA Time (05h00 GMT) and 19h00 SA Time (17h00 GMT) seven days a week; or at CWC stadiums from 09h00-16h00 Monday to Friday.

Since July 15, tickets have been sold only in packages i.e. Stadium Packages for all matches at a particular venue and Follow The Team Packages for all pool matches involving a particular team.

There are still Stadium Packages available at the following grounds: Boland Park, Paarl; Buffalo Park, East London; De Beers Diamond Oval, Kimberley; Goodyear Park, Bloemfontein; North West Stadium, Potchefstroom; Maritzburg Oval, Pietermaritzburg; and Willowmoore Park, Benoni.

The public should note that the sale of all packages will cease on October 7, at which time all the remaining packages will be unbundled and their tickets taken up in the Ticket Window.

© World Cup Organising Committee