Lord’s pitch gets sanctioned by ICC after ENG vs NZ 1st Test
England captain Ben Stokes had said after the match that Test cricket, a format under massive threat from the Twenty20 game, needed better pitches than the one served up at Lord's.
New Zealand's Matt Henry, second left, celebrates taking the wicket of England's Jacob Bethell as he looks at his stumps during the second day of the test match between England and New Zealand at Lord's cricket ground in London, Friday, June 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) The Lord’s and the Gaddafi stadium pitches where England took on New Zealand and Australia faced Pakistan in a Test and ODI respectively were rated as unsatisfactory by the ICC under the Pitch and Outfield Monitoring Process.
The two venues have been handed one demerit point each after match referees Andy Pycroft (Lord’s) and Graeme La Brooy (Gaddafi Stadium) submitted their respective reports, highlighting concerns raised by match officials and captains.
“There was plenty of excessive seam movement throughout the Test and the ball also kept extremely low on several occasions. The bounce was variable throughout as 16 wickets fell on the first day and 17 on the second. There was simply an over-balance in favour of ball against bat caused by the pitch,” Pycroft said about the Lord’s pitch.
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