'Wickets fall in clumps' with pink ball under Gabba lights

As they lick their wounds after defeat in the first Test, during which they lost five wickets for 12 runs in their first innings and four for 11 in their second, England have been warned to prepare for conditions where “wickets fall in clumps” when the Ashes resume next week in Brisbane.

- Simon Burnton

David Sandurski, curator at the Gabba, is preparing for a second day-night game in quick succession after the Sheffield Shield match between Queensland and Victoria, which ended on Monday with the home side winning by seven wickets inside three days.

Xavier Bartlett took five wickets in that game, and scored 72 runs in the first innings. “Just on twilight the pink ball talks a bit more and the game goes through massive ebbs and flows,” he said. “You see wickets falling in clumps. You’ve got to make the most of that middle session. If the Test wicket is like the one we played on, it will be a good cricket wicket. We got a result in three days but when you bat well you get rewarded and if you bowl well it’s the same.”