Government will await a final report from an International Cricket Council (ICC) chief pitch consultant before deciding what course of action to pursue over the controversial cricket pitch at the National Sports Centre (NSC).

Last week ICC pitch consultant Andy Atkinson recommended the Sports Centre?s batting strip be re-surfaced with foreign clay as local clay did not meet international standards.

Atkinson described the pitch?s present condition as ?more suitable for growing carrots? before departing for the UK on Monday.

?It?s not really a soil that will go rock hard and produce a nice bouncy sort of pitch because it has such a quick-drying capacity and there?s not much binding capacity in the clay,? Atkinson told .

?It?s like sand and silt whereas what you look for in a cricket pitch is a drying content of about 30 to 50 percent, a certain amount of silt and a certain amount of sand. So it looks as though we might have to change the soil to get a more suitable soil needed to produce good wickets.?

The Englishman is the ICC?s grounds consultant responsible for overseeing all pitch preparations in the West Indies in the lead-up to the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean.

Although the NSC?s board of trustees and Ministry of Sport officials still await Atkinson?s final report on the controversial pitch, there are hopes Government can somehow relax strict policies which prohibit any foreign clay from being imported to the Island.

?What we are looking to do now is to work very closely with the Ministry of Environment to point out the final report,? said Dr.Derek Binns, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Sport yesterday.

?And once we do receive the report we intend to share the information with the Ministry of Environment and bring to their attention our concerns about the pitch.?

According to NSC chairman of the board of trustees, Dr.Gerard Bean, Government rejected a previous proposal ? submitted by a top ICC pitch consultant ? recommending that foreign clay would be best suitable for the NSC cricket pitch located on the facility?s northern end nearly five years ago.

?Hopefully there is a way that we can work with them (Environment Ministry) to ensure we can get the proper soil for the wicket,? Dr.Binns continued.

?I do know that much has changed technologically in the last five years and so maybe now Government have other ways of addressing environmental concerns that were not available then.?

Binns said it was important the ongoing dilemma ? highlighted during this summer?s Americas Regional Championships, ICC Inter-Continental Cup and West Indies tour of the Island ? was addressed as soon as possible given the Island still stands a very realistic chance of staging 2007 World Cup warm-up matches.

Meanwhile, test samples taken from the Sports Centre?s pitch are to be sent to Florida for soil analysis, while Atkinson could possibly file a final report by the end of the week.

?Particle analysis will be done to determine the soil?s drying content, silt content, sand content and whether you have fine or medium sand,? Atkinson explained.

?And then the samples will undergo additional nutritional analysis to determine its nutrients, potassium, phosphates, salt levels and nitrogen contents. But the crux of the whole matter is that the soil needs to be changed.?