World Cup tickets still up for grabs

There was chaos when packaged tickets went on sale

Cricket World Cup organisers are to use a ballot system to sell individual tickets in an attempt to avoid the chaos that accompanied early sales.

So far tickets have only been available in packages to see all matches at a single stadium or involving an individual team.

But, between 8 October and 8 November, fans will be able to put their names into a random draw for single match tickets.

Hopefuls will find out by 2 December whether they have been successful and have a further month to hand over their money.

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

"No one will benefit by being first in the queue," the organisers explained in a statement.

"All applications during the four-week window will stand an equal chance of success."

Heavy demand and a crashed computer system saw ticket sales halted on the first day that they were available in July.

Only the 23 March final in Johannesburg is completely sold out.

Over 100,000 tickets are still available, but demand is expected to far outweigh supply.

Fans can apply either in person at the World Cup venues, on the official website wwww.cricketworldcup.com or using the telephone hotline [phone].

Tickets for matches in Zimbabwe and Kenya have yet to go on sale.