Officials bring music, Test to a halt in PE

Brassed-off umpires summoned match referee Jeff Crowe to the field in Port Elizabeth on Saturday, but it was noise coming from the stands - not the slips cordon - that concerned them.

The controversy-plagued Test series between Australia and South Africa has kept officials busy, with Kagiso Rabada the fourth player to be charged already.

The latest barney was between the St George's Park brass band, an institution at the coastal town's boutique venue, and umpires.

Both sides were OK with the level of noise, with one Australian heard on stump microphones asking "what's the drama?".

Umpires Kumar Dharmasena and Sundaram Ravi were not, repeatedly stopping proceedings amid a gradual crescendo.

Crowe is usually stationed in the officials' room during a Test, but early in Saturday's final session he trotted out to the oval because of the band.

It prompted one of the many messages that were relayed to fans by ground staff, with umpires wanting a more quiet environment when the bowler is running in.

A collapse of 4-28 followed soon after Crowe's unexpected appearance, but Hashim Amla insisted the two weren't related.

"No frustration," Amla said.

"The umpires certainly came to us as batters and asked us what we think about the band. We said it's your call, you have to make the big decisions.

"They decided it was maybe disturbing them.

"When you're batting out in the middle you've got more important things to worry about .. it didn't affect any of our batters."

Former Proteas captain Graeme Smith was among many pundits unimpressed with officials' attempts to create a more serene scene.

"You watch the game of cricket sometimes and you pull your hair out, because it doesn't make sense," Smith told cricket.com.au.

"This was one of those times.

"Someone needs to tell Dharmasena 'let's just get on with the game here'."

Image Id: 9F763D8447C14A42804832EB2F12A4BB Image Caption: The brass band is an iconic fixture at the Port Elizabeth Test // cricket.com.au

The band stormed out of the grandstand at on point, but returned later and played on.

"Umpire is saying he can't hear any more because of us," band treasurer Cole Ingram told radio station SEN.

"Umpires don't want us to play.

"As you can see on the face of the guys, clearly they're not happy ... they're here to entertain the crowd.

"We spoke to the match official this morning and we had a good understanding from him of what's expected from us during the day, but now all of a sudden the umpires are saying we should stop playing."

Qantas tour of South Africa

South Africa squad: Faf du Plessis (c), Hashim Amla, Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock, Theunis de Bruyn, AB de Villiers, Dean Elgar, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Morne Morkel, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi, Vernon Philander, Kagiso Rabada.

Australia squad: Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), Cameron Bancroft, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Jon Holland, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Tim Paine, Jhye Richardson, Chadd Sayers, Mitchell Starc.

Warm-up match: Australia beat South Africa A by five wickets. Report, highlights

First Test Australia won by 118 runs. Scorecard

Second Test St George's Park, Port Elizabeth, March 9-13. Live coverage

Third Test Newlands, Cape Town, March 22-26. Live coverage

Fourth Test Wanderers, Johannesburg, March 30-April 3. Live coverage