The Lord’s pitch used for England’s 115-run win over New Zealand has been labelled “unsatisfactory” by the ICC, earning the ground a single demerit point under the global pitch-and-outfield monitoring scheme – the first time the famous venue has been sanctioned.
Match referee Andy Pycroft filed the report on Monday. “There was plenty of excessive seam movement throughout the Test and the ball also kept extremely low on several occasions. The bounce was variable throughout as 16 wickets fell on the first day and 17 on the second. There was simply an over-balance in favour of ball against bat caused by the pitch,” he wrote.
All 40 wickets tumbled in 996 deliveries – the shortest completed Test at Lord’s since 1888 – despite two lengthy rain breaks. Twenty-four dismissals were either bowled or lbw, underlining how awkward the surface became once the lacquer wore off.
The England and Wales Cricket Board now has 14 days should it wish to challenge the decision, although few at the ground sounded in the mood to fight. MCC chief executive Rob Lawson admitted: “We recognise that the pitch for this Test has shown more variable bounce than we would have wanted. We hold ourselves to the highest standards and are naturally frustrated when a surface falls short of those expectations.”
Lawson pointed to an unusually hot May followed by heavy, stop-start rain in the week before the match. “Presented a number of challenges” for head groundsman Karl McDermott and his team, he said, before promising that the club “fully recognise the need to act quickly”. MCC spent the winter steaming several strips and relaying the entire outfield, a programme that clearly still needs bedding in.
England captain Ben Stokes did not hide his concerns. Ticket-holders on day one, he joked, “had a great time”, yet added that “extreme conditions” such as these are “not going to help the game in future”. He expanded: “I get asked questions all the time about the longevity of this format. The game is played over five days. Without the weather, it wouldn’t even have finished on day four. As someone who believes Test cricket should never disappear, that [early finish] is not ideal.”
Tom Latham echoed those thoughts from a New Zealand viewpoint, calling it “unfortunate” the contest wrapped up so briskly. His batters were roughed up by Chris Woakes and Ollie Robinson, while Trent Boult and Kyle Jamieson did similar damage in return, each attack exploiting variable bounce that turned a seemingly average 254 into a winning first-innings total.
This Lord’s surface sits at the edge of what the ICC is willing to tolerate. Five demerit points picked up over a rolling five-year period would lead to a 12-month suspension from hosting international cricket. One point, therefore, is largely symbolic, yet it sends a message to a club keen to remain the home of attractive Test cricket.
Grounds in England are rarely punished – The Oval’s slow turner against South Africa in 2017 drew the last minor reprimand – and the incident has reopened the long-running debate around early-season scheduling. Pitches in April and May generally favour seam bowling, though few do so to this extent. Several county groundsmen noted that heavy use of hybrid rollers, designed to knit surfaces together, can leave grass looking healthy but hiding soft, moisture-laden layers underneath – ideal for sideways movement and variable bounce once cut.
Former England opener Mark Butcher told BBC Test Match Special that he “could see why the ICC acted”, adding: “Nobody minds something for everyone – a bit of nip in the morning, good carry, then it flattens out. But when balls are tunnelling under the splice on day one you’ve got a problem.”
Lord’s stages the third men’s Test against Pakistan in mid-July. MCC expects a completely different set of conditions by then, though work will start immediately to firm up the suspected soft patch just short of a length at the Pavilion End. No decisions have been made about shifting that fixture elsewhere.
For Stokes, the priority is simply adapting. “From a playing point of view, it’s great to be challenged,” he said. “We might have conditions that are completely different next week [at The Oval]. We will have to do the same thing: assess the surface, build our plans, and get on with it.”
No one quibbled with England’s skill in seaming, reverse-swinging and occasionally digging a ball into the middle of the pitch when bounce allowed. Yet the broader feeling spoke to balance, and whether supporters – present and future – feel short-changed if five-day tickets are routinely crammed into two and a half. MCC and the ECB now have a fortnight to decide whether to appeal. Either way, the pressure is squarely on the rollers, moisture gauges and, crucially, the weather between now and Pakistan.
