Australia vs. West Indies: Gabba Test Day 2 live scores and latest news updates
The verdict is in from Nathan Lyon and Mitchell Starc after the Gabba pitch came under criticism on the first day the Test. Adelaide is the standout home of day-night Tests.
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Australian bowlers Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon have claimed Adelaide is the one true home of day-night Tests, saying the Gabba pitch produced for the second Test is not fit for purpose after the West Indies mounted a fightback on day one.
From 5-64, the Windies reached 8-266 at stumps after a 149-run sixth-wicket partnership from Kavem Hodge and Joshua Da Silva.
The Test is just the third day-night Test at the Gabba and the first since 2019. Ordinarily the Adelaide Test is the sole pink-ball clash for the home Test summer but a scheduling quirk meant Adelaide hosted a day Test last week.
Off-spinner Lyon, a former Adelaide Oval groundsman before he made his first-class debut with South Australia, said the famous venue was a clear leader when it came to choosing an Australian day-night Test venue.
“I’ll try not to get in trouble,” Lyon said on ABC Radio after play on Thursday night.
“This is just my opinion. The right venue for pink ball Tests is Adelaide Oval and that’s because (of) the contest between bat and ball and the grass left on the wicket. This wicket, I think it would be a brilliant red-ball wicket.”
Starc – who took four wickets on day one to go past 350 in Test cricket – said the pitch, which had just 3mm of grass covering, was not optimal for a day-night clash.
“We knew it was gonna be a little bit in with a hard new ball. It’s a pretty good wicket. We know the pink balls get soft at some point and I think that the firmness of this wicket, it started to go soft about the 11th over,” Starc said.
“The ball is what it is. I think it now comes down to the wicket which I think Adelaide’s got right because of the ball and we know it goes soft at certain stages depending on the wicket I think there’s a certain cushion to what they make in Adelaide and just why it’s been such a good Test match, the pink ball Test in Adelaide.
“So I think this week is pretty similar to the game we played Pakistan here with the pink ball (in 2016). In that game as well it went soft very early. There was a lot of dead patches where because it was so soft. It was hard to score, there wasn’t much in it for the bowlers and I think Pakistan got about 450 chasing 490 in the fourth innings so it feels a bit like a similar wicket where it’s probably a bit too firm for the pink ball. I think it’d be a fantastic red ball wicket but probably too firm for the pink ball.”
Originally published as Australia vs. West Indies: Gabba Test Day 2 live scores and latest news updates
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