Pitch imperfect: Nasser Hussain, Michael Vaughan lead criticism of Lord's surface

Matches (25) IND vs AFG (1) ENG vs NZ (1) Vitality Blast Men (7) South Africa A in England (1) Vitality Blast Women (3) Blast Women League 2 (4) Asian Games Qualifier (2) WI vs SL (1) T20 World Cup Warm-up (2) Ireland Women in England (1) ENG-W vs NZ-W (1) UpcomingOnly Test • New Chandigarh Match yet to begin Stumps Starts 10:00 AM1st Test • Lord's (11.5 ov, T:254) 113 & 36/3 Day 2 - New Zealand need 218 runs. RESULT Vitality Blast Men • Worcester (19.3/20 ov, T:169) 141 Worcs won by 27 runs ScheduleTable Live Vitality Blast Men • The Oval (10.5/20 ov, T:216) 95/3 Surrey need 121 runs in 55 balls. ScheduleTable Live Vitality Blast Men • Leeds (2.5/20 ov, T:214) 27/2 Lancashire need 187 runs in 103 balls. ScheduleTable Live Vitality Blast Men • Hove (3.3/20 ov, T:180) 33/1 Leics need 147 runs in 99 balls.

ScheduleTable Live Vitality Blast Men • Hove (5.5/20 ov, T:138) 61/1 Gloucs need 77 runs in 85 balls. ScheduleTable Live Vitality Blast Men • Nottingham (11.4/20 ov, T:140) 87/5 Notts need 53 runs in 50 balls. ScheduleTable RESULT 1st unofficial ODI • Leicester (19.3/50 ov, T:120) 120/1 SA A won by 9 wickets (with 183 balls remaining) RESULT Vitality Blast Women • Leeds (20 ov, T:156) 134/8 DUR Women won by 21 runs ScheduleTable RESULT Vitality Blast Women • The Oval (17.4/20 ov, T:146) 149/5 SUR Women won by 5 wickets (with 14 balls remaining) ScheduleTable RESULT Vitality Blast Women • Nottingham (20 ov, T:152) 140/5 BLZ Women won by 11 runs ScheduleTable RESULT Blast Women League 2 • Hove (20 ov, T:131) 131/9 Leics Women won by 1 wicket (with 0 balls remaining) ScheduleTable RESULT Blast Women League 2 • Northampton (20 ov, T:175) 141/7 Glam Women won by 33 runs ScheduleTable RESULT Blast Women League 2 • Bristol (20 ov, T:193) 161/7 Middx Women won by 31 runs ScheduleTable RESULT Blast Women League 2 • Canterbury (19.4/20 ov, T:105) 101 Worcs Women won by 3 runs ScheduleTable RESULT Asian Games Qualifier • Singapore (20 ov, T:288) 133/8 Hong Kong won by 154 runs ScheduleTable RESULT Asian Games Qualifier • Singapore (20 ov, T:213) 210/6 Bahrain won by 2 runs ScheduleTable Upcoming2nd ODI • Kingston Match yet to begin UpcomingWCL 2 • King City (NW) Match yet to begin ScheduleTable UpcomingT20 World Cup Warm-up • Derby Match yet to begin UpcomingWarm-up • Loughborough Match yet to begin UpcomingT20 World Cup Warm-up • Derby Match yet to begin UpcomingWarm-up • Loughborough Match yet to begin UpcomingVitality Blast Men • Chester-le-Street Match yet to begin ScheduleTable Matt Roller Published: Jun 5, 2026, 7:44 PM (13 mins ago) Jacob Bethell was bowled by one that stayed low • Getty Images A wicket has fallen every 25 balls across the first two days of a Test match dominated by fast bowlers at Lord's, with Nasser Hussain and Michael Vaughan leading criticism of a pitch characterised by its variable bounce. New Zealand went into the third day needing another 218 runs to beat England with seven wickets in hand, with their fourth-innings target of 254 looking a steep ask after scores of 140, 113 and 226 in the first three.

Neither captain has used a single over of spin across the first two days with atmospheric conditions and an up-and-down surface making seam almost unplayable. Officials at the MCC, which owns and runs Lord's, have made conscious efforts to improve its pitches in recent years. These have included "steaming" surfaces - using steam to sterilise the soil - last winter in a bid to add pace and bounce to the square, but the move appears to have had minimal positive effect on the evidence of the first two days of this Test match. Hussain, the former England captain, described the pitch as "substandard" and said that batting was "impossible" on account of the variable bounce.

He cited Jacob Bethell's dismissal - clean bowled by a ball from Matt Henry which shot underneath the toe of his bat and into his off stump - as a prime example, saying he had "no chance at all" to keep it out. "Look at the very first delivery of the Test match, [which] rolled along the ground," Hussain said on Sky Sports' coverage. "All the way through, it has lacked pace and when it has got quicker, then suddenly it starts misbehaving up as well. I can tell you as a batter, nothing is worse [than] up-and-down bounce - and then you've got seam movement, and the slope.

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This isn't a fair balance between bat and ball." Vaughan cited the struggles of Joe Root and Kane Williamson - who made 27 runs between them in four innings - as evidence that the pitch was unplayable. "You're talking [about] great players that are going out to bat and making it look so difficult - because it is," Vaughan said. "The MCC know that this pitch isn't up to standard… I actually feel sorry for the batters, having to come out at the home of cricket. This is the best place to play cricket, and I just feel very fortunate that I didn't have to bat on many pitches like this." Nathan Smith, who took six second-innings wickets for New Zealand, said that overhead conditions had a major impact on how the pitch behaved, with heavy cloud cover for the majority of the first two days.

"I think it [the pitch] is certainly helping," Smith said. "There's a little bit of variable bounce as you guys have seen, and the ball is seaming around. "I feel like it is a different wicket, though, when the sun's out. It feels like it's pretty tough work [for bowlers] when the sun's out and the ball gets a little bit soft, so hopefully there's a bit of sun tomorrow." New ZealandEnglandEngland vs New ZealandNew Zealand tour of England Matt Roller is a senior correspondent at ESPNcricinfo. @mroller98 Terms of Use • Privacy Policy • EU Privacy Rights • Cookie Policy • Feedback