Gabba stewards are in the firing line after the second Test between Australia and South Africa in two days ended on Sunday.
The cricketing world has destroyed the greentop in Brisbane, which produced 34 wickets in less than six sessions as no batsman made a century.
Travis Head was only one Australian player to make a half-century and his 92 runs in the first innings was the difference between the sides as the hosts won by six wickets.
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South African No.6 Kyle Verreynne was the only other player to make a half-century as he made 64 runs in the first innings.
“I feel like the pitch is going to be the front-page story… I think that’s the story – it was the right tone for these two powerhouses to meet on such a green pitch,” Kerry O’Keeffe told Fox Cricket .
“A bit sporty I’d say,” South African great Shaun Pollock replied.
“I think when it behaves as badly as it does, the lateral movement doesn’t worry me too much, it’s when it starts to lift too hard or go over the top creating these little divots that you feel maybe the marshal has gone a bit wrong” .
Mark Waugh added: “The pitch is a bit too juicy, no, you just need luck to get runs. I’d have to say this pitch is rated below average. You want a bat-to-ball contest and that’s not it was a contest.”
Australia’s Pat Cummins celebrates taking the wicket of South Africa’s Anrich Nortje. GettySource: Getty Images
Indian great Virender Sehwag was scathing in his assessment, accusing the Australians of “mind-boggling” hypocrisy.
“142 overs and not even 2 days long and they have the audacity to lecture on what kind of pitches are needed. If it had happened in India, it would have been labeled as Test cricket final, ruining Test cricket and what not. The hypocrisy is mind blowing,” Sehwag tweeted.
Former Australian player Brad Hogg derided the wicket and said the game was “as fast as a backyard Test on Christmas Day”, but won some support online.
“Last year in the Ashes, Australia won 4-0 and there was a draw on a slow pitch in Sydney when England held on, but the four pitches that went in Australia’s favor had that advantage, there there was sportsmanship. It was a series of fast bowling. The pitches were designed to get results for the fast men, again the tradition continues here at the Gabba, but have they conditioned it too much?” O’Keeffe asked Pollock.
“Yeah, I think maybe so,” Pollock replied.
“I’ve made a suggestion in our South African game, if you look at the standard of our batting, we’ve actually got to go down the route of trying to make the surfaces a bit flatter to allow those batsmen to settle and have some power.The run is on, get some confidence at the top because bowling wise we should still have the firepower to pick up 20 wickets.
“You guys have such a quality offense that you don’t need to give the offense an extra boost by adding a little extra movement and vulnerability to that surface.”