The surface at the Lord’s for the ENG vs NZ 1st Test has been adjudged unsatisfactory after England secured a 115-run in the contest. New Zealand lost the match after 35 wickets fell in just two days of the match, resulting in NZ slipping down the World Test Championship (WTC 2025/27 cycle). As per reports, Lord’s has received one demerit point under the ICC Pitch and Outfield Monitoring Process.
ENG vs NZ 1st Test: Lord’s pitch rated unsatisfactory
As per the ICC release, there was excessive seam movement throughout the ENG vs NZ 1st Test. The game saw England being bowled out for 140 runs, while New Zealand were bowled out for just 113 runs in the first innings. While the hosts managed to score 226 runs in the 2nd innings, New Zealand only managed to score 138 runs, losing the 1st Test by a 115-run margin.
“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,” match referee Andy Pycroft stated.
McCullum praises batters for adjusting
After beating the Kiwis by 115 runs at Lord’s, McCullum expressed satisfaction with how the batters played. On what was a bowling paradise, England managed to score 140 and 226. Meanwhile, New Zealand combined for 251 runs in 2 innings. The England head coach also talked about adjusting, something he has said before as well, but the team never batted like that.
“We need to be quite malleable, depending on the surfaces we get. Nothing needs to be so binary to play one certain way. We need to be able to be adaptable and to adjust when required. I thought conversations that our boys had throughout the Test match, from a coach’s point of view, were fantastic. There was a real communication unfolding, and I think that allowed us to be slightly more adaptable when we needed. Clearly, the issue on that pitch was going to be the full and straight balls here. Defensively, we talked about straightening up your defensive clock to be able to make sure we’re respecting the ball straight. But anything that had width, we were trying to throw our hands at it, knowing that it was going to be a low-scoring game, so you still need to keep ticking over the scoreboard,” McCullum said to Sky Sports.
