MCC apologises for subpar Lord’s pitch in 1st England vs New Zealand Test

The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) had admitted the pitch for the first Test between England and New Zealand at Lord’s was not satisfactory in a statement released on Sunday.

England emphatically beat the Black Caps in a 115-run win shortly before lunch on the fourth day. The Test also experienced rain delays in the first three days of the fixture.

“We recognize that the pitch for this Test has shown more variable bounce than we would have wanted. We hold ourselves to the highest standards and are naturally frustrated when a surface falls short of those expectations,” the MCC said in a statement on social media.

The MCC also highlighted the impact of extreme weather on the surface at Lord’s.

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“MCC invests significantly each year in the preparation of the main square at Lord’s, as well as in research, technology and expertise aimed at producing pitches that provide a fair and consistent contest between bat and ball. The unusually hot and dry weather during May, followed by wetter conditions in the lead-up to the match, presented a number of challenges in preparing the pitch.

“However, we fully recognize the need to act quickly. We will remain fully focused on applying all aspects of pitch development and improvement as outlined in our recently published MCC strategy 2026-29.”

The match, the 150th Men’s Test to be hosted at the venue, was also its second shortest in history, with a wicket falling almost every 25 balls.

Despite the win, England captain Ben Stokes was critical of the pitch.

“From a playing point of view it was great to be challenged. But when you see extreme conditions like that they’re not going to help the game in future.”

His counterpart Tom Latham concurred saying, “I’m sure the curator didn’t think the wicket was going to play like that going into the Test and we certainly didn’t. There’s only been two full days of cricket played. Both teams had the same conditions throughout but it wasn’t ideal. It’s a great week here at Lord’s and for it to play out like that is unfortunate.”

There’s plenty of cricket coming to the iconic venue in the next few weeks with the Women’s T20 World Cup and the one-off Test between India and England five days after the World Cup final.

Published on Jun 07, 2026