Rod Bransgrove hailed the first day of international cricket at the Rose Bowl as "a magnificent success" - inside the ground at least.

Bransgrove watched with pride as South Africa played Zimbabwe in front of a 7,200 crowd less than three years after he bankrolled Hampshire's move to the £23m Rose Bowl.

It was a day when what happened off the pitch was of more concern to the Rose Bowl plc chairman than what happened on it.

He said: "I'm proud of everyone who was involved with the day, all the staff were absolutely magnificent and the crowd was bigger than those for the other games between Zimbabwe and South Africa in this series, even though it was a so-called dead game.

"It was a beautiful day, everybody had a lot of fun, maybe not the Zimbabweans but that was out of my control, and the ground looked wonderful.

"The players liked it, the umpires liked it."

Yesterday's successful international debut will stand the Rose Bowl in good stead when the England and Wales Cricket Board decide on venues for future internationals..

But Bransgrove knows there is room for improvement.

He said: "In the ground we handled things very smartly but what we've got to look at is how we ease the congestion on the local road infrastructure.

"I'll be speaking to the police to see why there was such a such a backlong of traffic when we were parking cars very quickly.

"Anything that happens outside the ground is outside of our jurisdiction but we do need to do more in terms of improving traffic flow to and from the area.

"In Australia I went to international cricket matches in Perth, Melbourne and Sydney and for an hour before and after each game the roads were closed around the grounds so access was a simple process.

"Having said that, we have to get used to the fact that getting to major sporting events by car does take a bit of time.

"Anyone that's ever driven to Twickenham will know that. It's not a straightforward process but we have to remember that this is out first international game, only our third or fourth major event, we're learning all the time so we will get better."

ECB management board member Bransgrove is now looking forward to the Rose Bowl's next international - a West Indies v New Zealand clash next year.

He added: "The entire Natwest Series will be analysed and discussed by the management board and conclusions will be drawn about what was a success and what wasn't.

"It will all help to decide where international fixtures will be held in the future. It will take some time to collate it all but my view is that we had an incredibly successful day."