AUS vs SA 2022: South Africa captain Dean Elgar criticises Gabba pitch, calls it 'unsafe'

South Africa captain Dean Elgar has slammed the 'Gabba' pitch by calling it 'unsafe' after Proteas lost the game in under two days on Sunday.

"I did ask the umpires how long it goes on for before it is essentially unsafe. That's where the umpires' discretion comes in - it's not up to us players," Elgar was quoted as saying by AFP.

"The nature of the way it started to play with some seriously steep bounce with the old ball, you're kind of on a hiding to nothing as a batting group."

Elgar added that the cracks on the pitch and the uneven bounce meant that the older ball was flying across.

"The divots definitely played a big role with the sideways movement, the up and down and obviously the steep bounce, which is quite something to face. And also today the older ball was flying through which really shouldn't be happening."

Elgar also questioned whether the wrapping up of a five-day Test match in under two days was a good advertisement for the format or not.

"You've got to ask yourself if that's a good advertisement for this format."

ICC's definition of a poor pitch

Notably, according to ICC's pitch guidelines, a poor pitch is one “that does not allow an even contest between bat and ball by favouring the bowlers too much (seam or spin), and not giving the batters from either team the opportunity to make runs.”

The match wrapped up in 142 overs with 15 wickets falling on the first day while 19 wickets tumbling on the second.

Australia, chasing a party total of 35 were on the ropes as Proteas managed to bag 4 wickets. Another 50-60 runs and there was a high possibility that the South African pace battery would have managed to skittle the Aussies.

Batting first on the usual-than-greenish Gabba deck, South Africa huffed and puffed their way to 152 after losing four wickets at the score of 27.

In response, Australia did not fare much better as they managed to score 218, primarily due to Travis Head's 96-ball 92 runs inning that eventually proved to be the difference between the two sides.

(With inputs from agencies)

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