Top International Cricket Council (ICC) pitch expert Andy Atkinson will be in Bermuda this weekend to conduct workshops for all local groundsmen and to consult with the National Sports Centre Board of Trustees over the facility?s controversial batting strip on the northern field.

An invitation has been extended to all local cricket coaches to attend this weekend?s workshops to be held at the NSC?s north field pavilion.

The 50-year-old Englishman ? responsible for overseeing pitch preparations for the 2007 World Cup Finals in the West Indies ? has produced some of the finest pitches in Kenya, Australia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and at Lords, the most revered ground of all.

A former cricketer himself with East London non-league club, Ranking CC, Atkinson joined the ICC in 1999 on a part-time basis before being elevated as a full-time pitch consultant two years ago.

?Atkinson is coming here to conduct workshops for all local groundsmen to assist them in preparing cricket pitches at their respective clubs,? NSC Board of Trustees deputy chairman Sean Tucker confirmed yesterday.

?He is also going to be looking into ways of assisting us to improve our wicket (NSC) using available local clay and offer us suggestions as to what we can do.?

In 2004 the Sports Centre?s cricket pitch drew heavy criticism from visiting teams during the ICC Americas Regional Championships, ICC Inter-Continental Cup tournament and tours of the Island by the West Indies and Barbados.

Tucker added: ?Andy will be here to provide some guidelines to our groundsmen as to what can be done to raise local standards.?

Last December NSC trustees launched an Island-wide hunt for the best suitable clay. All samples that were taken were sent overseas to the UK for further analysis to determine whether or not they met international standards.

Of those samples sent abroad, it was determined that a specimen taken from an undisclosed site in St.David?s was the closest to meet international standards.

The next best local sample was taken from a site near Riddell?s Bay in Southampton.

?None of the clay tested overseas proved to be ideal for a first class international wicket,? Tucker said. ?And so what we are now trying to do is have Atkinson assist us using the limited resources at our disposal.?

Atkinson, who previously described the Island?s showpiece cricket pitch as ?more suitable for growing carrots? in the wake of heavy criticism, initially recommended importing foreign clay.

However, the proposal was immediately shot down as strict regulations ? imposed since 1970 ? prohibit the importation of foreign clay to Bermuda?s shores.

Atkinson?s comments alluding to the NSC?s cricket pitch also did not go down well with NSC Board of Trustees chairman Gerard Bean who has seemingly had a change of heart and again sought the Englishman?s expertise.

Bean told The Royal Gazette last year: ? . . . I don?t know where he (Atkinson) got his assessments from nor am I overly concerned with what he said and I thought those comments were very inappropriate, comments I am made to understand got him in trouble in London.?

Meanwhile, former New Zealand Test skipper Jeffrey Crowe is scheduled to arrive in Bermuda next Monday to assess local club grounds that have the potential to host One-Day International matches in the future.

Bermuda Cricket Board are expected to release further details on Crowe?s visit prior to his arrival next week.