ICC blasts Cricket Australia for ‘below average’ Gabba pitch

The International Cricket Council has issued the Brisbane Cricket Ground, commonly known as the Gabba, one demerit point and gave the pitch a ‘below average’ rating after the first Test between Australia and South Africa.

The state of the pitch in Brisbane that was used during the first Test between Baggy Greens and Proteas has copped widespread criticism after Australia beat the South Africans by six wickets within two days during which 34 wickets fell.

ALSO READ: Australia legends, ICC slam Gabba pitch after 34 wickets fall in two days

High-profile critics of the ‘green top’ pitch include South Africa skipper Dean Elgar, legendary former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting and veteran Aussie batsman Matthew Hayden.

“I don’t think that was a very good Test wicket,” Elgar said after the game.

Ponting said: “I haven’t seen one as green. There was excessive seam movement. These are very, very good bowling teams, no doubt, but I don’t think that the batting teams are that bad.”

ALSO READ: Proteas skipper, ICC finger pitch after two day humiliation

During one of his his commentary stints, Hayden said: “It started too green. And that’s from someone who has seen this [pitch] from a very young age. There is no need to make it so full of grass, such heavy grass content. It seamed too much.”

The ICC has now come out and lambasted Cricket Australia’s pitch preparation, saying the state of the pitch led to the first Test being an uneven contest between bat and ball.

ICC MATCH REFERE’S PITCH REPORT FINDINGS:

ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees member Richie Richardson released his pitch report on Monday, and the initial finding is that the pitch was ‘below average’. 

“Overall, the Gabba pitch for this Test match was too much in favour of the bowlers. There was extra bounce and occasional excessive seam movement. The odd delivery also kept low on the second day, making it very difficult for batters to build partnerships.” 

“I found the pitch to be “below average” as per the ICC guidelines since it was not an even contest between bat and ball,” he added.

Due to the ‘below average’ rating, the venue has received one demerit point under the ICC Pitch and Outfield monitoring process. Demerit points remain active for a rolling five-year period and when a venue accumulates five demerit points it is suspended from staging any international cricket for a period of 12 months.