Stokes criticizes Lord's pitch after rapid Test win

England captain Ben Stokes expressed frustration with the Lord's pitch following a swift Test match victory over New Zealand. He voiced concerns about the format's longevity, stating that matches finishing too quickly are "not ideal" for Test cricket's status as the premier format.

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The game is played over five days and without a little bit of weather this wouldn't have finished on day four.

The recent Test saw all 40 wickets fall to seam bowlers, a rarity in England since 1988, with neither team employing spin. The pitch displayed alarming uneven bounce from early on, contributing to batters being bowled by deliveries that kept low. Former captain Michael Vaughan and BBC commentator Jonathan Agnew also criticized the pitch as "really poor."

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For someone who believes Test cricket should be the best format and should never disappear, that's not ideal from that point of view.

The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), which owns Lord's, admitted the surface "fallen short of expectations." MCC chief executive Rob Lawson cited challenging weather conditions, including hot and dry May followed by wet conditions before the match, as factors affecting pitch preparation. The club invests significantly in pitch maintenance and is exploring techniques like "steaming" used at Wimbledon and experimenting with drop-in pitches.

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We recognise that the pitch for this Test has shown more variable bounce than we would have wanted.

Despite the criticism, England secured a victory, which Stokes suggested was the primary concern after a recent series defeat in Australia. Lord's is scheduled to host England's first women's Test and the Women's T20 World Cup final later this summer.

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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.