Lengthy schedule costs us the Cup: Mickey Arthur

Beausejour, St Lucia, Apr 26 (UNI) South Africa today blamed the lengthy World Cup schedule and long gap between matches for their failure to make it to a maiden final.

''Not looking for excuses but the length of the tournament and the time between games didn't allow us to get momentum,'' coach Mickey Arthur said here.

South Africa were bundled out for 149 and were beaten by seven wickets in their third outing at World Cup semi-finals by the mighty Australians.

''During this tournament we were a bit off the boil, with some really fantastic performances coupled with some very average ones,'' added Arthur.

The Proteas played Australia seven days after beating England by nine wickets.

''After the game against England we were ready to play two days later.'' However, captain Graeme Smith accepted that the team is very disappointed with their performance of not making it to the final of the World Cup.

''Being two games away from a World Cup and not putting in the performance you're looking for is disappointing but I guess we'll deal with it,'' he said.

''We also feel sorry for people supporting us back home and over here,'' Smith added.

But not having a world class spinner in their side, is what worries the South African captain, the most.

''One of our challenges is to find a spinner that can contribute, like Australia and Sri Lanka have,'' he said.

''That's (spin bowling) one facet to our game we always talk about but with the strength of the game at home we should be able to find somebody who can do that job.'' Robin Peterson, the only spinner selected in the team, played just two games.

UNI