Why has Lord’s dug up its pitch and what comes next?
Via BBC Sports: View the original article
Written by: Matthew Henry
It is the sight no-one has seen for a generation.
Diggers in front of Lord’s famous old pavilion. A gaping hole in the middle of the square.
After years of issues and complaints around the playing surface at cricket’s spiritual home, those in charge have taken the drastic step to dig up one of its strips.
So what caused it, what is being done and what does it mean for the future?
What has caused the change?
The strip in question is Pitch Nine.
Lord’s has 20 across the square but nine is one of five central strips used for the most high-profile matches.
Crucially, it was the controversial surface used for England’s Test against New Zealand in June – a surface that proved incredibly difficult for batting.
Jacob Bethell was bowled by a ball that shot along the ground and the Test would have been over inside two days had it not been for bad weather.
Afterwards, England captain Ben Stokes said the surface does not benefit Test cricket and it was rated as “unsatisfactory” by the International Cricket Council.
Cricket’s most historic venue had to deal with the ignominy of a demerit point being placed on its record.
What is being done?
The New Zealand Test was not the first case of Lord’s – which is effectively guaranteed at least two Tests per year by the England and Wales Cricket Board – having trouble with its playing surface.
The pitches used for the men’s Tests against Ireland in 2019, New Zealand in 2021 and Australia in 2023, plus a women’s one-day international against India in 2022, were all rated “average” under the ICC’s previous system.
Lord’s has often been criticised for being slow and low, thus providing less entertaining cricket.
Back in February, the MCC stated the “square must be at the forefront of the club’s priorities” and in the summer it set out a seven-point “pitch action plan”, which has included bringing in external experts.
As reported by Cricinfo, external, this month things have gone a step further.
Over five days, Pitch Nine was dug up and the 22-yard hole filled with a base layer of gravel.
The area has been rolled and tended to by the groundstaff and fresh soil was added on top. It now looks little different to the square around it.
What next?
But this is not the end of the story.
In a letter sent to members last week, the MCC chair Mark Nicholas warned “we should all be braced for the scheduling challenges” their pitch plans will bring.
Pitch Nine will be out of action until 2029 at the earliest, depriving Lord’s of one of its main TV pitches.
Major matches next year include the second men’s Ashes Test in late June, a women’s Ashes one-day international in July, a men’s Test against Bangladesh in May, and a men’s ODI in September.
Lord’s plans to cope as best it can and the MCC has also stepped up its plans around hybrid pitches.
Lord’s already has two hybrids, where synthetic fibres are inserted and mixed with a regular grass pitch, and a third will be added to the square in the spring.
Hybrids are not currently allowed in Test cricket but are allowed in white-ball internationals and domestic cricket.
They can be revitalised and reused more quickly than natural surfaces, which could relieve some of the pressure caused by the loss of Pitch Nine.
And Lord’s is also continuing with its plans to introduce drop-in surfaces.
Drop-ins – pitches which are grown away from the main square before being ‘dropped’ into place – are common in Australia and New Zealand but not in the UK.
After Nicholas said earlier this year drop-ins could be used as early as 2028, the first trays will be introduced to the Nursery Ground in the coming weeks.
“The work now underway represents the most comprehensive review of the square and pitch preparation at Lord’s in a generation,” Nicholas told members.
“While these changes will take time to deliver their full benefit, they will help to ensure that the club prepares pitches worthy of the ground’s reputation.”
Time will tell whether the changes are as successful as hoped.
