If the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) had any real teeth it would react to the controversy over the Lord’s pitch by stripping the venue of next year’s Ashes Test.
Even Mark Nicholas, chairman of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), admitted the surface for last week’s Test against New Zealand was “substandard”.
This came after an unprecedented apology from MCC chief executive Rob Lawson in the hours after England completed their 115-run victory on a pitch that offered such an uneven contest between bat and ball that the number of balls per wicket (24.9) was the lowest at any English Test venue since 1907.
It was also only the third Test in history played in England that not a single ball was bowled by a spinner. The number of balls bowled – 966 – was the fewest at Lord’s since 1888, when Lord Salisbury was Prime Minister and Queen Victoria was on the throne.
Criticised by both captains, as well as pretty much every commentator, the pitch will, in the next few days, be judged “unsatisfactory” by International Cricket Council, with Lord’s being given one demerit point in the process. Any venue that picks up six over a five-year period is banned from hosting international cricket for a year.
MCC chairman Mark Nicholas admitted the Lord’s pitch was ‘substandard’ (Photo: Getty)But should the ECB step in anyway and encourage the “Home of Cricket” to take an enforced break anyway so it can sort out the mess that is the heavily overused square that is serving up increasingly poor pitches?
This seems an unlikely course of action. The ECB offices are based at Lord’s. Also, this is a venue so storied and revered around the world that having an enforced period of no international cricket there would be deemed sacrilegious.
This, though, is part of the problem. Lord’s will host two more Tests this year, with England’s women taking on India in July and the men playing Pakistan in August. It is also hosting four matches, including the final, in the upcoming women’s T20 World Cup, not to mention the Hundred final.
Next year, just as in 2025, Lord’s also hosts the World Test Championship final, not to mention that Ashes Test.
Mark Butcher, speaking on Sky Sports, made the point that the venue hosts far too much cricket. “Year on year the pitches, the surfaces, no matter what the cricket, have just been declining in terms of their quality,” said the former England batter.
“There are three Test matches here this year and there are other Test grounds who miss out. And more of them are going to miss out next year. So why are we playing so much cricket here when the pitches are not up to muster?”
It was an unfair battle between bat and ball in the first Test (Photo: Getty)Former England bowler Steve Harmison went even further, saying on TalkSport: “The pitch was poor and I thought it was quite a danger to the players. That for me is the final straw – something needs to be done.”
It’s unlikely the ICC will deem this Lord’s pitch “unfit” – when it is judged by the match referee to have been dangerous. That in itself would generate three demerit points. Instead, it will be marked as “unsatisfactory” – a surface that fails to allow an even contest between bat and ball. That’s what the ICC judged the Melbourne pitch to be for last year’s Boxing Day Test that England won inside two days.
Now, the science behind pitch preparation is complicated, with groundsmen at the mercy of weather patterns and numerous other factors outside of their control. But the fact that Lord’s is so overused is a factor in why the pitches are declining in quality.
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The answer is playing less cricket there. But the economics of such a move make that almost impossible. To relay the square at the venue would cost an estimated £12million. It would then take three years for the pitches to be ready to play on.
Nicholas, writing in The Times, says MCC is already developing drop-in pitches with the hope the first one can be in use by 2028. This is something that’s never been done before in England but is commonplace in Australia, where most Test grounds are now multi-sport venues.
Even Nicholas, though, admits this isn’t ideal, saying: “Drop-in pitches in Australia have worked reasonably well, but are by no means an unqualified success. The indigenous qualities that have made Australian pitches so interesting, and so very different from one another, have been lost.”
What then is the solution? Again, play less cricket at Lord’s. Why does this venue automatically get at least two Tests every summer? If the surface isn’t up to scratch, let the MCC solve the issue and play some of these matches elsewhere.
I’d start with next summer’s Ashes Test. Hand that match to Headingley. With no venues north of Nottingham for next summer’s marquee series it would redress that imbalance and prove that Lord’s is not untouchable.
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