MCC Apologises After Ben Stokes Criticises Lord’s Pitch Ahead Of England Vs New Zealand Test

The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) apologised for the quality of the Lord’s pitch prepared for the opening game of the series against New Zealand after the venue’s showpiece 150th Test became its first since 1888 to feature fewer than 1,000 legal deliveries.

“England’s Bazball reset begins with 115-run win over New Zealand early on Day 4 at Lord’s England’s Bazball reset begins with 115-run win over New Zealand early on Day 4 at Lord’s England wrapped up a 115-run victory over New Zealand before lunch on Day 4 of the first cricket test at Lord’s on Sunday, marking a positive start to its “Bazball” reset after the Ashes humiliation Down Under”

AP News

England wrapped up victory over the tourists by 115 runs shortly before lunch on the fourth day, with rain interrupting all three previous days, and Ben Stokes criticised “extreme conditions” that “are not going to help the game”.

AP News

MCC chief executive and secretary Rob Lawson said: “We recognise that the pitch for this Test has shown more variable bounce than we would have wanted.”

The MCC said it would “act quickly” to improve pitches at Lord’s, pointing to “unusually hot and dry weather during May, followed by wetter conditions in the lead-up to the match” as challenges in preparing the surface.

Stokes said the pitch was difficult because “as a batter you never feel in and don’t know what’s going to happen off the wicket,” while he also argued that “extreme conditions like that” were “not going to help the game in future.”

Tom Latham, the New Zealand captain, said: “I’m sure the curator (groundsman) didn’t think the wicket was going to play like that going into the Test and we certainly didn’t,” adding that “There’s only been two full days of cricket played on that surface.”

BBC

The BBC’s Agnew framed the result as “just so important England won this first Test against New Zealand - and that they won it emphatically,” while also saying the pitch was “a very difficult pitch at Lord's but it is the same for both sides.”

AP reported that England resuming on 55-5 and requiring 254 saw New Zealand lose its remaining five wickets inside the first two hours, with Gus Atkinson finishing with team-best figures of 5-30 on the “challenging, bowler-friendly surface” at Lord’s.

The MCC’s post-match statement said it “fully recognise[s] the need to act quickly,” and the New York Times outlined options including developing “drop-in” pitches or digging up a pitch entirely.

“England's Bowling Brilliance Secures Crushing Win at Lord’s England secured a 115-run victory over New Zealand in a rain-affected first Test at Lord’s”

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The New York Times added that if the MCC did that to one of the five ‘international’ pitches used at Lord’s, it would be out of commission for three years and cost MCC a major international match per year, which it estimated at £10million ($13.3m).

England’s win came on a rain-hit match that lasted just 166 overs, and the Straits Times said the MCC issued a rare public apology after the milestone test turned into “a bowler's paradise as wickets tumbled every 25 balls on average.”

Attention now turns to the second Test at The Oval, with the AP report saying it starts June 17, while the Guardian noted England had “five more to go” with “two more against New Zealand” after winning the first game of the summer.