Observations made at the Gabba

I saw the bulk of Australia's first innings and the commencement of Pakistan's second. 

The crowd at The Gabba was circa 13,000 which was predictably disappointing. The concrete bowl of a ground has these coloured seats which are uneasy on the eye as the photos show. Nevertheless we had a good view of the action and the sun shone throughout. 

Centurion [154] Warner having batted very well was eventually out from a brute of a delivery caught behind. The 16 year old fast bowling sensation Naseem Shah picking up the prize wicket. Smith was out cheaply playing across the line to Yasir who has now dismissed him 7 times . Clearly the batting honours belonged to centurion [185] Marnus Labuschagne who played with great maturity building on his success in England. This was the Queenslander's highest ever score in first class cricket. Pakistan struggled against the pace of Starc, Cummins and Hazlewood. There is a confident look about this Australian side which seems to have rediscovered a winning mentality [hopefully without the nastiness]. It will be interesting to see how they fare against New Zealand later in the Australian summer. Great to see Pakistan who will surely improve on this in Adelaide. The side can draw encouragement from Babar's stylish 104 in their second innings.

The two umpiring Richards - Illingworth and Kettleborough were out in the middle

Encouragingly from a wider Test match perspective it was good to hear that the India/Bangladesh match sold out.

Andy