MCC apologises for Lord’s Test pitch after Stokes criticises ‘extreme conditions’

The MCC has apologised for the quality of the Lord’s pitch prepared for the opening game of the series against New Zealand, after the venue’s showpiece 150th Test became its first since 1888 to feature fewer than 1,000 legal deliveries. England wrapped up victory over the tourists by 115 runs shortly before lunch on the fourth day. But for the frequent and lengthy interruptions for rain it would have ended on the second.

Ben Stokes also criticised “extreme conditions” that “are not going to help the game”, with unpredictable bounce and prodigious movement off the seam leading to the breaking of the English record for the most batters being dismissed either lbw or bowled, with only two half-centurions and just nine of the 40 innings lasting 20 balls or more.

The MCC’s chief executive and secretary, Rob Lawson, said: “We recognise 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.

“MCC invests significantly each year 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. We fully recognise the need to act quickly.”

Stokes said: “For me the reason why Test cricket is the best format is because it presents its own challenges from one week to another, and this week we were presented with conditions that were difficult, but we were playing against another team who had exactly the same conditions to come up against. But from a non‑playing point of view, I get asked questions all the time about the longevity of this format, people even talking about saving Test cricket, which I think is a bit far.

“But without a little bit of weather we probably wouldn’t have finished on day four. From someone who believes that Test cricket should and always will be the best format and should never disappear, that’s not ideal.

“It’s tough for groundsmen. They’re not actively coming out there and producing wickets that are tricky and have 16 wickets falling in a day. But I get asked all the time about what needs to happen to save Test cricket and when you see extreme conditions like that, that’s not going to help the game in the future.

“Test cricket is played over five days. You want it to be played over as much of the time as possible. But we could turn up next week [at the Oval], the game’s a draw and everyone goes: ‘Well this pitch is too flat.’ So it’s tough to get it right.”

Tom Latham, the New Zealand captain, was also critical of the surface. “I’m sure the curators didn’t think the wicket was going to play like that, and we certainly didn’t think it was going to play like that,” he said. “There’s been under two full days of cricket played on that surface. It’s wasn’t ideal.

“It’s a great week here at Lord’s and for it to play out like that is unfortunate. Throughout the whole match you see the dismissals were either bowled or lbws, guys being caught on the crease, which shows the guys were not able to trust the surface.”

Latham went on to say his team had discussed whether their batting should have been “a little bit more positive … the ball was still doing plenty and the result may have been the same but whether we could have showed a little bit more intent”, while Stokes praised “the way that we committed to trying to score off anything that was slightly loose”.

Ben Stokes said after victory how much Test cricket needs pitches that can last as long as possible. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian

England’s captain most valued the result, especially given the need to stem the tide of criticism that followed his side’s poor performances in the Ashes. “I’m not going to lie, I’m very, very happy that we’ve won this week,” Stokes said. “I knew how big this game was, in terms of the result and how it was going to be perceived externally if it didn’t go well.

“We’ve won the first game of the summer. It’s great that we managed to do it, but we’ve got five more to go. We’ve got two more against New Zealand, who are a quality team. There’s a long way to go still.”