England v New Zealand: Michael Vaughan ‘sorry’ for batters on poor Lord’s pitch

This is not the first time the Lord’s pitch has been questioned in recent years.

Questions were raised in the 2025 World Test Championship final after 14 wickets fell in the first two days.

In contrast, just a month later England and India played a thrilling Test that lasted five days, but this year’s pitch could finish the match in three days.

The batsmen’s struggles were exemplified by a delivery from New Zealand pacer Matt Henry that bounced just above ankle height and cannoned into the stumps, leaving England’s Jacob Bethel with no chance.

The BBC’s chief cricket commentator, Jonathan Agnew, said, “It’s a really bad pitch. It’s not the standard pitch you expect for a Lord’s Test and they need to do something about it.”

“You can’t keep playing on this particular strip and it’s going to cost them a lot of money.

“The bounce is uneven, there’s too much seam movement. It’s wearing out quickly. That (Jacob) Bethel delivery was absolutely unplayable. It’s not a pitch that’s good for Test cricket.”

Speaking on Sky Sports, former England captain Nasser Hussain added: “It lacked speed but when it got faster, it started misbehaving upwards.

“As a batsman, there is nothing worse than up and down bounce. Then you have to factor in seam movement and slope, batting becomes impossible.

“This ground has got a lot going for it, but the bit in the middle is the most important bit and it’s not good enough at the moment.”

With the women’s Test between England and India in July before the men face Pakistan over five days in August, there is little time to make significant changes this summer.

But are the problems on the square enough that the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) might have to consider moving future Tests from Lord’s while the pitch problems are dealt with?

Former New Zealand bowler Simon Doll told Sky Sports: “What will the ECB do if they have to dig up the pitch and start again? That means two years of no cricket.”

“It becomes an ECB problem. They have to get together with the MCC and say, ‘Sorry, we will take away the games from you because the pitch is not up to standard’.

“So until the ECB decides that they will take the game from Lord’s, it will not force the MCC’s hand to make the pitch.

“The outfield is great and I feel for the groundsstaff because they’re dealing with a tired, old block of turf that’s not suitable for anything they want to do with it.

“They’re trying everything, it’s not that they’re poor groundstaff. But they’re dealing with a very poor surface and everything underneath it and it needs to be replaced.”