Border Cricket has revealed it was given an option for a drop-in pitch at Buffalo Park ahead of the Cricket World Cup next year, but decided against it.

Instead, it opted for additional traditional pitches on the square in the middle.

A drop-in pitch is one that is grown and prepared away from the main stadium, inside a large steel tray, and then lifted into place in the centre of the field before a match.

The Wanderers in Johannesburg and St George's Park in Gqeberha are among the grounds out of the eight South African venues for the World Cup that have seen the surfaces being installed.

The groundsmen of those venues have stated previously that the drop-ins solve the issue of maintenance and recovery of pitches when curators have little time between games.

Buffalo Park will host four matches in the global event, including six-time champions Australia and 2019 finalists New Zealand.

Border acting CEO Sean Beyer said they were not impressed with the experiments they saw of the drop-in pitches in the 2024 T20 World Cup that was held in the US.

The grounds in America that used them faced heavy criticism as there was unpredictable and potentially dangerous bounce, as well as exceptionally low scoring.

"We didn't want to risk it. We chose to stick with what we know, the traditional pitches," Beyer said.

"We were not convinced by the drop-ins we saw in the recent World Cup in the US.

"There were a lot of low scores and for our matches here at Buffalo Park, we want them to be competitive and give the spectators quality matches."

The local organising committee’s chief operating officer, Edward Khoza, and ICC curators said in the inspection visit for the World Cup they were impressed by the progress the ground staff at Buffalo Park had made with the traditional pitches.

During the ICC visit it was revealed that more than half a million cricket fans were already waiting on the sidelines for a chance to score some of the most sought-after tickets to watch the world’s biggest cricketing names at the ground.

The scramble for tickets comes as the deadline to register for a chance to buy them looms, with November 21 the last day for supporters to enter the ballot.

The ICC has reported a strong demand for tickets, while organisers say about 600,000 ballot entries have already been received for the four matches scheduled at Buffalo Park.

Khoza urged supporters not to wait until the last minute to register, warning that those who missed the deadline would not be eligible to participate when general ticket sales opened next year.

The free ICC ticket ballot gives supporters a chance to secure seats ahead of the general public sale.

It is essentially a means for fans to indicate their interest in purchasing tickets for the World Cup and can be found on the ICC’s World Cup site.

According to the ICC, ticket prices will range from about R158 for entry-level tickets to about R514 for the highest-tier matches.