Lord's Relays Pitch 9 After Its First-Ever ICC Demerit Point

Dr. Annelies De Vos · 2026-10-15

Lord's has always carried a certain weight. It's the home of cricket, the place where every player wants to walk out at least once. So when the ICC handed the ground its first-ever demerit point for an unsatisfactory Test pitch, it stung. Now the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is doing something about it. Pitch 9 has been dug up and relaid, and it won't see international action for the next two or three seasons. ### Why the ICC Marked the Lord's Pitch Unsatisfactory Match referee Andy Pycroft filed the rating after England beat New Zealand in the first Test back in early June. His report pointed to excessive seam movement and variable bounce. The surface gave up 40 wickets in just 166 overs, which tells you how little the batters had to work with. Here's the striking bit: bowlers either bowled or trapped LBW 24 of those batters. Several deliveries stayed low too, including the one that dismissed Jacob Bethell on day two. Pitch 9 is one of five central strips used for internationals at Lord's. Until this match, the ground had never picked up a demerit point. ### The MCC Starts Rebuilding and Rethinks Pitch Prep MCC chair Mark Nicholas didn't waste time. He drew up a seven-point action plan right after the match. Rob Lynch, the club's director of cricket and operations, and the ground staff have since brought in outside experts and commissioned data analysis as part of a wider review of the square and how pitches get prepared. Work on Pitch 9 began earlier this month. In an email to members on Wednesday, Nicholas said 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. Cricinfo reported that 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. The MCC plans to use it as a partner venue after a pilot programme this summer, though the club hasn't confirmed the details yet. ### Hybrid and Drop-In Pitches Are Part of the Long Game The MCC is betting on two tools: hybrid pitches and permanent drop-in pitches. A third hybrid strip, made of 95% natural turf and 5% synthetic fibre, goes in this spring. Nicholas said using these surfaces efficiently would ease the pressure created by losing Pitch 9. One catch: the ICC doesn't allow hybrid pitches in Test matches right now. 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 believed to play more consistently than standard turf and to recover faster between matches. The club is also producing its first three drop-in trays. The first will move to the main square in 2028 after a spell on the nursery ground. Unlike the seasonal drop-ins used at multi-purpose grounds in Australia, the MCC will keep these in place on a long-term basis. > "The project will ensure that the club prepares pitches worthy of the ground's reputation." — Mark Nicholas, MCC chair ### What's Coming Up at Lord's Lord's stages two men's Tests a year under an agreement that runs until 2031. Next summer it hosts 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, to host the 2027 World Test Championship final. Not everything was doom and gloom this season. The other two Tests at Lord's — England women against India and England men against Pakistan — got satisfactory ratings for their pitches. The four limited-overs internationals, which included three women's T20 World Cup matchdays and an England men's ODI against India, earned very good ratings. So the story isn't that Lord's has lost its touch. It's that the ground is adjusting, and the next few seasons will show whether the new plan holds up.