A sad day for SA sport, says Pollock

On a day of crushing disappointment for South African sport, Shaun Pollock and his Protea team-mates added their commiserations to those flooding in around the country following the failure of South Africa's bid to host the 2006 football World Cup.

Speaking minutes after his side had lost by 37-runs to Sri Lanka in their opening match in the Singer triangular series, Pollock said "it's not a good day for South African sport".

"It's very sad," he said. "All the guys were aware of the vote and we're bitterly disappointed. I think we've got fantastic facilities in South Africa and we would have done a great job of the soccer World Cup."

His sentiments were echoed by United Cricket Board managing director Ali Bacher.

"It's terribly sad," said Bacher. "I know how hard the SAFA bid committee worked, and how hard Danny Jordaan in particular worked. They did a fantastic job and cricket really feels for them. This decision will just make us work even harder to ensure that the 2003 cricket World Cup is an even bigger success."