Dean Elgar said there was excessive ‘moisture’ on the Gabba pitch, it was not a match
After losing the opening Test against Australia inside two days, South African captain Dean Elgar criticized the Gabba pitch, saying it had too much “moisture” which resulted in a level match. The first Test match of the series between Australia and South Africa lasted just two days and saw the fall of 34 wickets. South Africa scored 152 and 99 runs in the two innings respectively. Australia won the match by six wickets.
Elgar said after the match, “I am still thinking what happened in this match. The bowlers were getting a lot of help from the wicket. It was a tough challenge for the batsmen. It is fine but the other side of it is that it did not result in an equal match between ball and bat. It was the second fastest ending Test ever in Australia. Only 867 balls were bowled in this match. During this, the bowlers took 15 wickets on the first day and 19 wickets on the second day. Elgar told ‘Foxsports’, “You have to ask yourself whether this is good for Test cricket.”
It was the first time in 91 years in Australia that a Test had ended inside two days and the pitch was criticized by former players including Mark Waugh. Waugh said on ‘Fox Cricket’, “I think you have to question, is there too much grass on this pitch?” It felt a bit unfair to the batsmen. This pitch could get a ‘poor’ rating from the ICC. Former captain Ricky Ponting said on ‘Channel 7’, “I have never seen anything like this at the Gabba.” Matthew Hayden has played more cricket here than me and he has never seen anything like this. And Justin Langer said the same thing.
