ROD BRANSGROVE is preparing for the biggest three days of his chairmanship - adamant that the mistakes have been learned from England's last visit to The Rose Bowl.

Last September England's first game at the Rose Bowl - an ICC Champions Trophy match against Sri Lanka - had to be finished on the reserve day after a rain-affected first day.

The bulk of the 15,000 crowd had to wait in the rain for buses to take them back to their park- and-ride sites after play was abandoned early.

It was not the day that Bransgrove envisaged, and it led to several complaints.

But Rose Bowl plc's chairman has vowed that there will never be a repeat of that fiasco, and several months of planning should ensure that the next 72 hours go smoothly.

With the International Cricket Council and the England and Wales Cricket Board keeping a close eye on The Rose Bowl this weekend, a slick operation is required - and Bransgrove knows it.

He said: "We know that our performance will be scrutinised this weekend, especially as the ICC Trophy game between England and Sri Lanka provided some shortcomings.

"On that occasion we didn't have the buses to take people back early because we didn't plan for an early finish due to rain.

"People wanted to leave but there were no buses and they had to stand in the rain without cover.

"But this time we will have buses running all day and there will be sheltered areas for people to wait if there is rain."

Parking will not be available at the Rose Bowl for either games, but two park-and-ride sites and a park-and-walk facility will be used for tomorrow's 50-over match between Hampshire and England and the Twenty20 match between England and Australia on Monday.

The park-and-ride site off Junction 5 of the M27 has sold out for both games, as has the park and walk site, but there is still plenty of space off Junction 8, opposite Tesco's, at £7 per car.

Bransgrove added: "The other good news is that this year we will not be competing with the Southampton Boat Show for road space as was the case when England played Sri Lanka here last year.

"This time we've covered every eventuality we can think of, and have also contacted everyone who has bought tickets to find out their mode of transport.

"When people order tickets for these games in the future, by telephone or via the website, they will give details of their travel plans and then be sent details of train and bus timetables, or park-and-ride sites, depending on how they intend to get here."

Bransgrove's dream for a successful Hampshire team is becoming a reality.

"On the pitch, the highs are beginning to outweigh the lows, and when the team performs it can be unstoppable," added the chairman, who knows that another good performance from the off-field staff on Monday will help establish the Rose Bowl as the home of Twenty20.

He added: "We hosted the very first Twenty20 match between Hampshire and Sussex two years ago and it's a profile we enjoy."