Security boost for games

Security in the Black Caps' one day series against India will be boosted after crowd unrest marred Friday's Twenty20 victory in Wellington.

Bottles were thrown on to the pitch in the final over - sparking fears among the visiting team that unrest would spread "like a disease".

New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori played down the incident as Indian captain MS Dhoni told the Herald on Sunday of his concern for the safety of his players.

He said he wanted the practice stamped out before it spread.

"When you're playing at the top level you don't really want bottles to be thrown at you. A cricket ball is hard enough to hit you and hurt you so you don't want bottles flying all over.

"It happens - it's like a disease and it spreads. That's the problem and it's something I don't want to happen in the five one-dayers.

"That's one area where they need to put in more of an effort, especially from the security point of view."

The game was stopped following complaints from the Indian team and match referee Ranjan Madugalle about crowd misbehaviour when a plastic bottle was thrown on to the field.

Madugalle has filed a report with the ICC for the breach of safety and security.

New Zealand Cricket chief executive Justin Vaughan said security staff numbers will be increased for the five-match one-day series starting Tuesday. He also promised closer monitoring of the crowd.

Vettori said his team was not adversely affected by the incident.

"Noisy crowds are part of the Twenty20 game and add to the excitement of the occasion. They don't usually distract the players, we're pretty focussed on what's happening in the middle.

"Incidents like last night are disappointing but they do happen in grounds all around the world."

Co-founder of New Zealand cricket fan club the Beige Brigade, Paul Ford, who was at the game, said NZ Cricket was overreacting.

"It was pretty innocuous. It was an extremely good-natured crowd. People were getting excited with the Mexican wave but I don't think there was any genuine obnoxiousness towards the Indian players."

Stadiums usually keep the front three rows empty for safety, but for this game these seats were occupied.

"It wouldn't have made a huge difference," Ford said. "If you really wanted to throw something you could throw it over three rows."

Ford hoped NZ Cricket would use common sense in controlling this week's crowds.

"I think there's got to be a fine line between punishing one idiot doing something silly and punishing a crowd for years to come. There needs to be common sense attached and not over reaction."