Gabba curator Kevin Mitchell. Source: Angie Simms / News Corp Australia
GABBA curator Kevin Mitchell could have helped Australia towards winning the Ashes.
It may only be 1-0 after the Brisbane romp but the respected groundsman's decision to get players off the field 10 minutes before a violent hailstorm savaged the ground on Sunday afternoon was masterstroke.
A Hail storm hits the Gabba on the fourth day of the Test. Picture: Mark Kolbe Source: Getty Images
It left a bone dry pitch when the storm passed and meant only 72 minutes of play was lost when it could have easily several more hours.
Who knows what would have happened if the rest of Sunday had been lost and play resumed this morning?
Australia took full advantage of the earlier than expected resumption, rattling through the Poms who had been 4-142 when the dark storm and hail clouds had dumped their load on the Gabba.
Fans were thanking Kevin Mitchell and his men because cricket lovers have vivid memories of some great escape acts by the Poms in the Ashes in England earlier this year.
Although losing the series in England 3-0, Australia had been in a commanding position in two Tests before the bad British weather intervened and helped the Poms wriggle out of jail.
Mitchell, a familiar face around the Gabba, was typically matter of fact at stumps on day four and said he was just doing his job.
Groundsmen cover the pitch before a hail storm hit the Gabba. Picture: Cameron Spencer. Source: Getty Images
''We were tracking the hail on the radar and knew it was getting close,'' Mitchell told The Courier-Mail.
''There was only a couple of drops of rain here and there at the time, but it was the right moment to get the players off the field.
''The umpires and match officials were really awesome, they were happy to listen to what we were saying.''
The scenes were a hark back to an incident involving Mitchell's dad, Kevin Mitchell Senior, who tended to Gabba from 1975 to 1989.
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Once in a one-day game, Mitchell Senior ran onto the ground only to be waved away by the umpires - one of whom was a Brisbane local.
But Mitchell Snr kept coming, and within a minute or so the ground was inundated, but the pitch was saved.
During another Gabba hailstorm, Australian 12th man Dean Jones brought out a swag of helmets to protect the ground staff while they put on the covers.
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