by HAYDN GILL in Antigua

CRICKET WORLD CUP (CWC) organisers are considering reissuing tickets that were previously sold in an effort to beef up spectator attendance for the remainder of the event.

Prompted by a large percentage of no-shows, last-minute cancellations from Indian and Pakistan fans, and a desire to strengthen the Caribbean flavour at grounds, officials are set to make further tickets available for Super 8 matches in Barbados and Grenada.

"It's all part of a general look at how we get these stadia better attended," CWC managing director and chief executive officer Chris Dehring told the DAILY NATION at the Vivian Richards Cricket Ground yesterday.

"One of the factors is how we deal with the high level of no-shows that we've experienced by people who have purchased tickets and who, for one reason or the other, are not coming.

"We are looking at . . . strategies [to] deal with it. It is going to be the subject of many discussions, working with the LOCs [local organising committees]."

One of the matches officials expect to suffer from major absenteeism will be between Bangladesh and Ireland at Kensington Oval on Sunday.

As many as 23 000 tickets were sold for the match, which seemed likely to involve India and Pakistan when the original schedule was drawn up.

The new tickets would help fill the void created by "no-shows", but officials were still to determine how many would be reissued. Those tickets were likely to be distributed mainly among schoolchildren and other organisations.

"We're still doing some analytical work. That particular game – Ireland and Bangladesh – is a game that has a high percentage of tickets that are out there, either sold or distributed to the sponsors," Dehring said.

"We don't know exactly what kind of numbers we are talking about."