Lord's Loses a Pitch for Years After One Bad Test

Dr. Annelies De Vos · 2026-10-15

Lord's has always carried a certain weight. The Long Room, the slope, the history — it's the kind of place where a bad pitch feels almost personal. So when the ICC handed the ground its first-ever demerit point for an unsatisfactory Test surface, the Marylebone Cricket Club didn't wait around. Pitch 9 has been torn up and relaid, and it'll sit out of action for the next two or three seasons. ### Why the ICC Rated the Lord's Test Pitch Unsatisfactory Match referee Andy Pycroft delivered the verdict after England beat New Zealand in the first Test back in early June. His report pointed to excessive seam movement and uneven bounce on a strip that coughed up 40 wickets in just 166 overs. That's a lot of batting collapses in a hurry. Bowlers either bowled or trapped LBW 24 of those batters, and a handful of deliveries kept dangerously low — including the one that got Jacob Bethell on day two. When a ball skids through at shin height, batters don't stand much of a chance. Pitch 9 is one of five central strips used for internationals at Lord's. Before this match, the ground had never picked up a demerit point. That's a pretty remarkable run, and it makes this one sting a little more. ### MCC Begins Reconstruction and a Wider Review of Pitch Preparation MCC chair Mark Nicholas didn't waste time. He drew up a seven-point action plan right after the match. Since then, Rob Lynch — the club's director of cricket and operations — and the ground staff have brought in outside experts and commissioned data analysis as part of a broader review of the square and how pitches get prepared. Work on rebuilding Pitch 9 kicked off earlier this month. Nicholas emailed members on Wednesday, saying the project would "ensure that the club prepares pitches worthy of the ground's reputation." He also gave them a heads-up: expect some scheduling headaches over the next few years. > "We owe it to the players, the members, and everyone who loves this ground to get the surfaces right — not just for one Test, but for the long haul." According to reports, Lord's may build in a longer lead-in period before big events like Ashes Tests. That would give the ground staff more breathing room to work on the surfaces. Some smaller recreational fixtures could shift to Sir Paul Getty's Ground at Wormsley, which MCC plans to use as a partner venue after a pilot program this summer. Nothing's been confirmed yet, though. ### Hybrid and Drop-In Pitches Feature in MCC's Long-Term Strategy Here's where it gets interesting. MCC isn't just patching up one pitch — it's rethinking the whole approach. - A third hybrid strip, made of 95% natural turf and 5% synthetic fiber, goes in this spring. - The club is building its first three drop-in trays, with the first heading to the main square in 2028. - Unlike the seasonal drop-ins used at multi-purpose grounds in Australia, MCC will keep these in place long term. Nicholas reckons smarter use of these surfaces will ease the pressure from losing Pitch 9. There's a catch, though: the ICC doesn't currently allow hybrid pitches in Test matches. Limited-overs internationals can use them if both teams and the ICC agree, and they're already common in English domestic cricket. Hybrid surfaces are thought to play more consistently than standard turf and recover faster between matches. ### What's Next for Lord's Lord's stages two men's Tests a year under an agreement running until 2031. Next summer brings England against Bangladesh from May 28 to June 1, then England against Australia from June 30 to July 4. The ICC has picked The Oval — not Lord's — for the 2027 World Test Championship final. For what it's worth, the other two Tests at Lord's this season got satisfactory ratings: England women against India, and England men against Pakistan. The four limited-overs internationals — three women's T20 World Cup matchdays and an England men's ODI against India — earned very good marks. So the problem isn't the whole square. It's one strip, one bad week, and a club now determined to make sure it doesn't happen again.