This is not the first time in recent years that a Lord’s pitch has been questioned.
Questions were also raised during the 2025 World Test Championship final after 14 wickets fell on each of the first two days.
By contrast, just a month later England and India played out a thrilling Test that went five days, but this year’s pitch could lead to the match finishing inside three days.
The batters’ struggles were exemplified by a delivery from New Zealand seamer Matt Henry that barely bounced above ankle height and cannoned into the stumps, giving England’s Jacob Bethell’s no chance.
“This is a really poor pitch. This is not the standard of pitch you’d expect for a Lord’s Test, and they’ve got to do something about it,” BBC chief cricket commentator Jonathan Agnew said.
“You can’t keep playing on this particular strip and it will cost them a lot of money.
“The bounce is uneven, there is too much seam movement. It is nipping quickly. That [Jacob] Bethell delivery was utterly unplayable. This is not a pitch that is good for Test cricket.”
Speaking on Sky Sports, former England captain Nasser Hussain added: “It has lacked pace but when it has got quicker, it starts misbehaving upwards.
“As a batter, nothing is worse than up and down bounce. Then you’ve got to factor in the seam movement and the slope, batting becomes impossible.
“This ground has got so much going for it, but the bit in the middle is the most important bit and it’s not good enough at the moment.”
With a women’s Test between England and India in July before the men’s side return to face Pakistan over five days in August, there is little time for significant changes to be made this summer.
But are the issues with the square enough that the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) may have to consider taking Tests away from Lord’s in future while the pitch problems are dealt with?
“What do the ECB do, if they have to dig up the pitch and start again? It means no cricket here for two years,” ex-New Zealand bowler Simon Doull told Sky Sports.
“That becomes an ECB problem. They have to combine with the MCC and say, ‘sorry, we’re going to take games away from you because the pitch is not up to standard’.
“So until the ECB decide that they will take action by taking games from Lord’s, it doesn’t force the MCC’s hand to get the pitch done.
“The outfield is magnificent and I feel for the groundstaff because they are working with a tired, old block of turf that is just not conducive to anything they want to do with it.
“They are trying everything, it’s not like they are poor groundstaff. But they are operating with a very poor surface and everything underneath it, and it needs replacing.”
