Lord’s could host a Test match on a drop-in pitch as early as 2029 as part of a radical response to the problem of tired and lifeless surfaces at the home of cricket.
The move, which has been in the pipeline for 18 months, would be unprecedented in the English game, but is regarded by MCC officials as the most practical way of coping both with fixture-list congestion and a Lord’s square that has faced growing criticism about lack of pace. Rob Lynch, the club’s director of cricket and operations, told Daily Mail Sport: ‘It would be irresponsible not to try to innovate.’
The plan would involve digging up part of the Nursery Ground that borders the main Lord’s pitch, and installing two or three trays in which the drop-in surfaces would be cultivated from the end of this summer. The technical know-how has been purchased off New Zealander Mark Perram, a leading global expert in the field.
If everything goes according to plan, the first drop-in pitch would then be lifted by a crane underneath the Media Centre and on to the Lord’s ground itself, where it would replace one of the seven big-match pitches that constitute the main square and face untenable amounts of wear and tear.
The intention is to stage a county match on the new pitch in 2028, and an England Test the following summer. MCC hope ultimately to replace all seven pitches on a permanent basis, but will also consider ‘in-and-out’ drop-in surfaces in the meantime to alleviate pressure on the square and allow the ground to host more major matches than they can currently accommodate.
Lord’s could host a Test match on a drop-in pitch as early as 2029 as part of a radical response to the problem of tired and lifeless surfaces at the home of cricket
MCC officials view a drop-in pitch as the most practical way of coping both with fixture-list congestion and a Lord’s square that has faced growing criticism about lack of pace
Though the logistics and geometry of installing drop-ins at Lord’s are complicated by the 8ft 8in slope that runs across the ground from the Grand Stand to the Tavern, the process is thought to be preferable to the more drastic option of relaying the pitch, which would take it out of action for years.
And officials are confident they can ensure the new surfaces aren’t too batsman-friendly, a trait that has occasionally marred Tests played on drop-in surfaces in Australia and New Zealand.
Lord’s have also continued with a ‘steaming’ process to purify its turf, borrowed from the All England Lawn Tennis Club in Wimbledon. It involves nailing a canvas cover to the outfield, then pumping in 200-degree steam to a depth of seven inches. Four pitches outside the main seven received the treatment at the end of the 2024 season, with encouraging feedback from the players, and MCC have applied it to four more ahead of the 2026 summer.
Meanwhile, part of the club’s Cricket Strategy, launched today, to ease the pressure on headquarters will be to use the Wormsley Cricket Ground as a secondary venue for some less high-profile games. Wormsley lies an hour away from Lord’s up the M40 and was established by the late billionaire philanthropist Paul Getty in 1992.
McCullum hits back against Brook criticism
England head coach Brendon McCullum has slammed criticism of white-ball captain Harry Brook ‘quite annoying’, and insisted he intends to stay on in the Test job, despite the recent 4-1 defeat in Australia.
Brook, who leads England into the T20 World Cup this weekend, was forced to apologise after it emerged he had lied about being alone on the night he was punched by a nightclub bouncer in New Zealand last October.
But McCullum said: ‘I don’t think we need to release all of those findings every time something arises to the media. The boys were under no uncertain terms of how we felt about it, but now our job is to support them.
‘And, to be honest, I find it quite annoying that we keep going on and on about it, because these are young men who are under immense pressure and they’ve put their hand up for something they’ve been disciplined for, and piling on to them is not helpful for anyone.’
Brendon McCullum has slammed criticism of white ball captain Harry Brook as ‘quite annoying’
He added: ‘The misconception out there is that I run this loose ship, where I want everyone out on the piss all the time, having a great time, and don’t give a hoot about cricket. It couldn’t be further from the truth. I’m fiercely determined. I’m fiercely competitive.’
Asked if he would like to be in charge come the first Test of the summer, against New Zealand at Lord’s in June, he replied: ‘Yes, because I’d like to finish what we started.’
