Gabba pitch ‘most difficult in Aus’: Smith

Oliver Caffrey | December 21, 2022

Steve Smith has labelled the Gabba green-top as the toughest pitch he has played on in Australia and is hoping conditions at the MCG will be more suited to batting.

South Africa were smashed in Brisbane as 34 wickets tumbled in just two days to open the blockbuster series, making it the shortest Test on Australian soil in 91 years.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) took a dim view of the game lasting just six sessions, with match referee Richie Richardson grading the Gabba pitch as “below average”, and saying it was “not an even contest between bat and ball”.

Even though Australia went 1-0 up with a six-wicket triumph against the Proteas, Smith wants to see batters given more help during the Boxing Day Test.

“As a batter I’d like it to do a little bit less,” the Australian star said on Wednesday.

“It’s a fine balance just trying to get that even contest between bat and ball.

“(The Gabba) was probably the most difficult wicket I’ve played on here in Australia and Melbourne was probably a close second last year.”

Proteas captain Dean Elgar slammed the pitch as dangerous in his post-match press conference and asked umpires during the last session if it was unsafe to continue.

Smith conceded there were moments during the match when he was taken by surprise.

“There were a few instances that the ball did some stuff that was just out of nowhere,” he said.

“Some balls were sitting in the wicket, making divots, some were zinging through and it was just incredibly hard to bat.

“Whether it was unsafe or not, it’s not really my place to judge – but it certainly wasn’t easy to bat.”

Peter Roach, head of cricket operations for Cricket Australia (CA), accepted the ICC’s assessment, conceding the Gabba pitch too heavily favoured fast bowling.

“We encourage all our (curators) to look at how we make the right balance over it going deep into the fourth day,” Roach said.

“We say that not being disappointed when a match goes into the fifth day; late on the fourth day gives a chance for the game to go a bit further.”

Roach said MCG curator Matt Page would not be changing his preparations based on what happened at the Gabba.

Smith looked puzzled when told there would be no message from CA to make conditions more batter-friendly at the MCG.

“(Last year’s MCG Test) went three days, was a difficult weekend and this year we’ve again got two really good bowling attacks so we’ll sum up the conditions and try to play accordingly,” he said.

Meanwhile, Queensland seamer Michael Neser has been released from the Test squad to link up with the Brisbane Heat in the Big Bash League.

After impressing in Adelaide against West Indies, Neser was the unlucky bowler to drop out for the Gabba Test and will now focus on his BBL commitments.

Fellow quick Josh Hazlewood is pushing to return from injury on Boxing Day, with selectors faced with the difficult decision of choosing between him and Boland.