England captain Ben Stokes was critical of the Lord’s pitch in the first test against New Zealand, saying such surfaces do not benefit the longest format of the game.
England defeated New Zealand by 115 runs with a day and two sessions to spare in a rain-interrupted match dominated by bowlers, as a pitch offering variable and unpredictable bounce made batting difficult.
“From someone who loves test cricket, is that something that will benefit test cricket? I don’t think so,” Stokes told the BBC’s Test Match Special on Sunday.
“I get asked questions all the time about longevity of this format, people even talk about saving test cricket, which for me is a bit far. The game is played over five days and without a little bit of weather this wouldn’t have finished on day four.
“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), owner of the Lord’s ground, said the weather was to blame for the nature of the pitch and issued an apology after what was the second shortest test match at Lord’s.
The second test will start on June 17 at The Oval.
(Reuters)
