The much-criticised Lord’s pitch between England and New Zealand last week has been branded ‘unsatisfactory’ by the International Cricket Council.
As a consequence, Lord’s has received one demerit point and if a ground accrues six within a rolling five-year window, it will be suspended from staging international cricket matches for 12 months.
The contest, which England won by 115 runs on Sunday, saw 40 wickets fall in 166 overs – less than two days of normal play – with variable bounce and lavish seam movement making life tricky for batters on both sides. 33 wickets fell across the first two days, with the first ball of the match failing to carry through to New Zealand wicketkeeper Tom Blundell.
The MCC admitted it must “act quickly” to improve its surfaces amid plenty of condemnation from former players, while Ben Stokes said pitches such as the one they played on were damaging to Test cricket.
“There was plenty of excessive seam movement throughout the Test and the ball also kept extremely low on several occasions,” match referee Andy Pycroft said. “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.”
Lord’s is due to host two more Test matches this summer. England’s women meet India in July, before the men host Pakistan late in August.
The ground will also be the venue for the Women’s T20 World Cup final.
PA
