Marnus Labuschagne says gabba pitch is not ideal for Test cricket
Posted - 2022-12-19T16:05:48+06:00
Updated - 2022-12-19T16:05:48+06:00
Star Australia National Cricket Team batter Marnus Labuschagne, who ranks number one in the ICC Men's Test Batting Rankings, has stated that the pitch at The Gabba in Brisbane was "not ideal" for Test cricket.
The pitch produced for the first test between Australia and South Africa provided a little too much support for the bowlers. A total of 34 wickets fell in less than 145 overs in the match. South Africa gave Australia a small target of 34 and while the Australians chased it down they lost four wickets in 7 overs as the match ended within two days.
Australia national cricket team captain Pat Cummins said the surface at The Gabba was "okay", but Marnus Labuschagne acknowledged the pitch was not up to par.
"I think everyone understands that we don't want that, that's not the ideal scenario," he said.
“We love the pace of the wicket, we love the bounce, we love two quick bowling attacks, but when we're done in less than two days it's obviously not ideal for Test cricket. But the reality is we've probably played on two of them in the last two years."
It felt a bit like a Shield game - Marnus Labuschagne
Marnus Labuschagne went on to say that both Australia and South Africa had top quality bowling attacks and they demanded a better pitch.
“It felt a bit like a Shield game. We've seen a few wickets like this (in the Gabba) but obviously there aren't two sides with bowling attacks by four or five players bowling over 150 (km/h), that's probably the difference.
“Test cricket is an endurance battle. Can the batter outlast the bowler? It's a strategic game and when you play on a wicket like this the match naturally comes together so closely.”
Marnus Labuschagne added that South Africa made a mistake by fielding a combination of four pacemakers and one spinner because the Brisbane pitch doesn't require five proper bowlers.
“It becomes a bit of a lottery who gets the upper hand in a wicket like that. With such a good bowling attack, they sacrificed a little in hitting because they're playing the four quicks and a spinner. That played to our advantage in this game because you probably didn't need five bowlers for a wicket like that.
Meanwhile, Australia National Cricket Team Test vice-captain Steve Smith described the pitch in the first Test as
"probably the most challenging wicket" he has seen in Australia.
"It was like there were different areas of moisture on the wicket, so some balls took divots and went slowly off the wicket, others hit harder parts of the wicket and shot through," Smith told cricket.com.au.
“Once those soft bits are hit, there are some divots as well. You would have seen a lot of balls hit the divots and either shot deep or lifted off, so it's very difficult to play against a batsman.