Date-stamped : 18 Feb97 - 10:15 14 February 1997 UCB plans spiked barriers, moats to stop invasions by hooligan element Guy Hawthorne Durban - The United Cricket Board are to demand tough crowd con- trol measures at limited-overs matches following the disgraceful behaviour during the washed-out Standard Bank triangular final at Kingsmead on Wednesday. With pitch invasions on the increase, every international ground in the country will come under scrutiny. After a downpour forced the players off the field, hundreds of spectators charged on to the field to slide on the wet plastic covering the pitch. The 200 security personnel and police did their best to restore order, but were hopelessly outnumbered and the mayhem continued for many minutes despite pleas over the public address system for spectators to leave the field. "It was disgraceful," said UCB managing director Ali Bacher. "We had something similar at East London and Benoni and it has reached the stage where something has to be done. By next season, all international grounds in SA will have barriers in place to prevent people from gaining access to the field. "Northern Transvaal are going to be building a moat at Centurion Park and Transvaal are to put spiked barriers up at the Wander- ers. It is really sad that it has come to this, but we have no choice. "Behaviour such as we witnessed at Kingsmead does the image of the country untold harm. When a match is being televised over- seas, it is there for all to see." Natal Cricket Union president SK Reddy apologised to the Indian team and media for the behaviour of the spectators. "The rain made things difficult for us," he said, "but that is no excuse. The behaviour of many of the so-called fans was appalling and we will be investigating methods of keeping people off the field." Cassim Docrat, the Natal CEO, said it was hoped Kingsmead would have barriers in place for the Natal-Australia match starting on February 20. Source :: The Star Contributed by Tony.Hassett (hassett@cricinfo.com)