Date-stamped : 13 Jan97 - 18:18 12 January 1997 Pitch For Third Test Rodney Hartman Andy Atkinson, the new groundsman at the Wanderers, is hoping the stadium pitch for this week`s third Test will be a balance between the extremes once propounded by two legendary figures of the game, the famous journalist Sir Neville Cardus and the great Indian-born England Batsman KS Ranjitsinhji. Cardus once described a perfect batting wicket as "so beautiful the bowlers might have watered it with their tears"; and "Ranji" once said of a pitch that clearly favoured the bowlers. "all a batsman can do is watch the ball with all his might and let the bat follow his eye". On a slightly more current note, Atkinson says he is seeking to prepare a pitch that will be "somewhere between Newlands and Kingsmead". His aim, therefore, is to find the right balance to allow a fair contest between bat and ball. He believes the Test pitch could be the best one at the Wanderers so far this season. Atkinson comes to the Wanderers from Edgbaston and via Newlands where, during the past 3 years, he has done a good job in recon- structing a problematic wicket. The master groundsman began as an assistant at Lord`s, moved onto Essex for 9 years and thence on to Warwickshire where he took over another troublesome pitch at Edgbaston. Now at the Wanderers, he is happy with the current pitch prepara- tion. "From September to mid-December we had 44 days of cricket which gave the pitch no rest at all," he said. "Bad weather also hampered the pitch recovery during that period. But I am happy now because we haven`t had any cricket here for the past month and the weather has been ideal - not too hot - for us to make good progress." Come Thursday and Atkinson will unveil a pitch hat, right now, looks in very good shape. Source :: The Sunday Times Contributed by Bob Dubery (dauphin@aztec.co.za)