The Gabba pitch has created concerns and come under the scrutiny of the ICC!!
Dean Elgar has shown his discontent and criticised the Gabba’s first Test surface as hazardous. The uncanny bounce and extra pace of this pitch made it impossible for batsmen to anticipate against the bowlers. It was very one sided for the bowlers.
Considering that, he stated that he asked the umpires how long the game could go until it was ruled unsafe.
Dean Elgar felt the green Gabba pitch was not a fit Test track and favoured the bowlers far too much. It didn’t take much time for bowlers to take 34 wickets were taken only in span of less than two days. Clearly, this not the the ideal way a test match should go.
The Proteas were dismissed for 99 in their second innings, but Elgar didn’t question the umpires until late on the second day, when Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje produced a scary spell as Australia pursued 35 to win. Australia somehow escaped through that spell because scoring 120 on that pitch would have been a task out of sight for Australia.
Nortje delivered a string of thunderbolts that flew over the wicketkeeper, and Rabada claimed four wickets, including Travis Head with a rising ball. Australia scored 35 runs to win and 19 of these 35 runs from extra runs which flew over the keeper’s head.
Elgar was asked for his opinion on the surface, which will undoubtedly be the focus of a comprehensive investigation by the International Cricket Council, and he did not hold back.
Here’s what Dean Elgar said after match
“I don’t think it was a very good Test wicket,” Elgar commented on pitch.
“You’ve got to ask yourself the question: Is that a good advertisement for our format? Thirty-four wickets in two days. A pretty one-sided affair I would say,” he said.
“I am a purist of this format and we want to see the game go four or five days. The way it started to play with some seriously steep bounce with an old ball … you are on a hiding to none as a batting unit.
“I did ask the umpires when KG got (Travis) Head out down leg. I said, ‘How long does it go on for until it potentially is unsafe?’ Nortje was bowling those short ones that were flying over our heads.
“I know the game was dead and buried. It was never to try and change (the result) or to put a halt to the game.”
Australia captain Pat Cummins didn’t give much attention to Elgar’s comments and said: “If you’re going to lose the match, you’d probably try anything, wouldn’t you?”
“It was fine. There was some sideways movement, a little bit of up and down bounce but … there’s no balls jumping off a length or anything like that.
“It was certainly tricky.
“I don’t think the toss had a big factor in the win because everything happened so quickly. Two days probably isn’t ideal.”
When Steve Waugh’s squad defeated Pakistan in Sharjah for 59 and 53 in 2002, it was the last time Australia won a Test match in under two days.
The only other two-day Test played in Australia took place in Melbourne in 1931, with the hosts defeating the West Indies by an innings.
The International Cricket Council will undoubtedly conduct a detailed evaluation of the Gabba pitch.
While just two days long, the India-England Test in Ahmedabad last year was investigated by the ICC without any sanctions being applied.
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