The Gabba would lose its character with a drop-in wicket, writes Robert Craddock

COMMENT: Put a drop-in deck at the Gabba and you spoil the greatest cricket wicket in the world. It’s that simple. The Gabba we know and love would be no more.

The state of the Gabba wicket after the Adele concert. Picture: Liam Kidston

PUT a drop-in deck at the Gabba and you spoil the greatest cricket wicket in the world.

It’s that simple. The Gabba we know and love would be no more.

In some ways, drop-in decks are worse than those treacherous glorified mudheap wickets of India, because at least those Indian wickets have character.

PITCH DILEMMA: MINISTER BACKS GABBA DROP-IN SOLUTION

Drop-in wickets have next to none. They encourage bland featureless cricket and the Gabba has never been bland and featureless.

Ask Shane Warne. He believes the Gabba is the best deck in the world and that Kevin Mitchell is the game’s best curator.

Spin legend Shane Warne has an exceptional record at the Gabba. Picture: AP

Warne’s legend would never be what it was without the Gabba. It was his favourite and most successful Test ground.

No bowler has ever taken more Gabba Test wickets than Warne as he relished the generous bounce of a wicket block raised by natural forces.

The other Gabba tragic was Ricky Ponting.

Summer after summer he used to say the Gabba was his favourite Test because he felt the pace and bounce of the deck made for the best and fairest contest between bat and ball in world cricket.

Ponting was once so incensed about speculation that the Gabba should have a drop-in deck he said to the late Queensland Cricket chief executive Graham Dixon: “If the push for those drop-ins ever gets serious ring me and I’ll fire up against them.”

Put a crappy drop in deck at The Gabba and you make it just like those vanilla decks of Adelaide and Melbourne.

You can bet Fortress Gabba would fall within a year or two.

Originally published as The Gabba would lose its character with a drop-in wicket, writes Robert Craddock