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Nobody wants to atone for last years road-like WACA pitch more keenly than the curator Matt Page. However, circumstances of climate and schedule have conspired to increase the degree of difficulty for the ground staff commissioned to restore a slowing surface to its former glory.The New Zealand Test began on November 13 last year, 10 days later than this one, providing extra time for the surface to harden under the Perth sun. Additionally, this year, an unseasonably cold Spring has prevented the WACAs block of 10 pitches from baking in the sort of heat more commonly associated with the venue.Moving the WACA Test to the start of summer, after more than 20 years of opening Test matches at the Gabba in Brisbane, has complicated life for Page and his staff. That decision was based around Cricket Australias desire to hold a second day-night Test in the 2016-17 season while ensuring both visitors - South Africa and Pakistan - played one apiece. Perth is considered too late a time zone to host a match starting any later than a day Test.Nevertheless, Page has worked off the knowledge gained last season to try to produce a livelier deck. Weve done things a little bit differently this year, he said on Wednesday. Weve left a little more green grass on it, weve also adjusted our water.Being November, we dont usually get the high temperatures we need to bake that surface to try to give us every possibility to get something that will go through and give the bowlers a good crack at the batters. [The weathers] not been great, but weve tinkered with our prep to try to get a harder surface than we would normally see here this time of year and just try to help it go through a bit quicker. Unlike the WACA practice pitches, which have retained their traditional clay base and have thus remained arguably the quickest in the world, successive operations on the WACAs square have left it less settled than it should be. So some strips are faster than others, with the central one not necessarily so, to suit the commercial demands of television. This years pitch is the same as last years.The ones on this [east] side of the block seem to be a bit quicker, theyve all got their own little characteristics, the 10 wickets out there, they all do little things, Page said. There are some that are a little bit quicker than others. This one is a normal Test-match wicket. We saw a couple of one-dayers here a couple of years ago with South Africa when it went through really well.Last year was not so good, so were hoping that its more towards that South African wicket of a couple of years ago. Hopefully itll [also] be something very similar to the last Shield game we had. There was a bit of bounce there, there was a bit of seam, something there for the bowlers, something there for the batters, there were three hundreds. Thats sort of what were looking for this time of year, being November.Page was philosophical about the chances of getting things back to the old days, even as the construction of Perths new multipurpose stadium meant many major matches will be shifted elsewhere. Its something were working towards and weve seen wickets here since the wicket that was reconstructed that have really gone through well, he said. Our biggest issue is our consistency, theyre not consistently quick. Thats what were working towards to make sure it happens.Theres pressure with every wicket you produce at the WACA, theres that reputation of the pace and the bounce and getting it back consistently to the way it was in the 1970s. Thats what we try to do with all our wickets, sometimes we get there, sometimes we dont. Im pretty confident well have a wicket that will have a bit in it for both batters and bowlers.One form of pressure that wont be on Page is to tailor a pitch to the specific demands of the home team. 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