PERTH, Australia (AFP)
Australian captain Steve Waugh has called for cricket administrators to have a close look at the bonus points system used in the VB Series.

"They need to have a good look at the system," he said. "I think everyone who has watched the games would have some concerns. But we knew what the system was before the series, so there are no complaints from us." Waugh made his comments after Australia had beaten South Africa in the last qualifying match of the series, but failed to make the finals.

The bonus points system was produced to encourage aggressive cricket. It rewards teams for winning by big margins. But an unintended result in this series has been that, instead of providing more attractive cricket, teams have sometimes done the opposite. In Sunday's game here, South Africa batted to top 227 runs to deprive Australia of a bonus point rather than aiming to score the 284 runs needed to win the match. If Australia had secured the bonus point they - rather than New Zealand - would have qualified for next week's best-of-three finals of the contest.

Waugh said he understood the system was up for review. "At the start of the series it looked like a good idea. But you need to assess how it affected the last couple of games, and whether that is good for cricket, or whether it is not," he said. "I am not part of that review process, but they need to have a close look."

Waugh added that he understood why South Africa had been content to prevent Australia from capturing a bonus point. "They probably did not want to play us in the finals because we have done well against them this year. I don't know when the next captains' meeting takes place, but if this is on the agenda I will certainly talk about it."

Shaun Pollock and Stephen Fleming have also given the points system a less than enthusiastic welcome. "You can understand what's behind it, but at the end of the day, I think you should just reward teams for winning," said Pollock.

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