English curator says no specific pitches for South Africa series

Andy Atkinson, an English curator in charge of the pitches during the Pakistan and South Africa series, and a pitch adviser for the ICC, promised to prepare quality pitches with pace and bounce fair to both sides.

Atkinson, who worked in South Africa from 1993 to 2001, said: "I am here to make quality cricket pitches but there are no specific targets of making spin tracks to support the home team." He continued: "I came here two years ago, the soil has no problem, but maybe the way the pitches are made here is a problem. The conditions are much similar to South Africa, the clay content is the same and grass is of the same quality. The whole idea is to make consistent pitches in Pakistan."

The Pakistan board sought Atkinson's help after criticism of the pitches by Rashid Latif, former captain, Javed Miandad, the coach and Tauqir Zia, PCB chairman. After his tour of Pakistan, Atkinson will fly to Bangladesh to supervise the preparations of the pitches for the ICC Junior World Cup to be held in January and February.

Atkinson always has high praise for Australia's wickets, but rejected Steve Waugh's demand for uniform pitches. "It is impossible to have uniform pitches all over the world because atmospheric conditions are different," he said. "They would be detrimental for world cricket."