Nasser Hussain said Lord's was not good enough for Test cricket after 33 wickets fell in the first two days of England's opening Test of the summer against New Zealand. New Zealand were 218 runs behind at stumps on day two after a match that has moved far too quickly even by the standards of a lively Test.
The criticism came as Nathan Smith took six wickets for 70 runs for New Zealand, while England lost four wickets in 11 deliveries in their second innings. Hussain said high-quality bowling had been on display from both sides, but the surface itself was substandard and had been for some time.
That assessment carried extra weight because Lord's grounds staff had already spent the off-season trying to breathe life back into the wicket, relaying the outfield and blowing 200°C steam onto the surface. CricViz rated the match's inconsistency at 7.5 out of 10, the highest figure it has recorded for a Test in England so far, underlining how erratic the bounce and pace have been.
Hussain said the ground lacked pace, offered variable bounce and seamed when cloud cover came over, adding that even the various fixes had not changed much. Lord's is hosting its 150th Test match and is due to stage three Tests this year, but the famous setting could not hide what was happening in the middle.
The issue now is whether anything is done to the surface before Lord's returns later in the year. For England and New Zealand, the first Test has already been defined less by rhythm than by a pitch that has made every session feel unstable.
