England captain Ben Stokes warned Sunday that test cricket, a format under massive threat from the Twenty20 game, needs better pitches than the one served up at Lord’s for his team’s 115-run win over New Zealand in the first match of the series.
The test at the home of cricket lasted just 166 completed overs — making it the second shortest ever in the 150 to be staged at Lord’s — and with just 617 runs scored by the two teams combined.
On an untrustworthy and nightmarish pitch for batters, there was a wicket every 25 balls — which, according to the BBC, is the lowest in England since 1907.
Some 24 of the 40 dismissed batters were out either bowled (13) or lbw (11), the most in a test in England.
Speaking as a winning captain, Stokes — one of the biggest proponents of test cricket — said this match wasn’t a good look for a longer format that many believe is dying.
“I get asked a lot about the future of test cricket, I get asked a lot about what we need to do to keep it growing, what we need to do to keep it such a strong format in the future,” Stokes said post-match in a long answer that ended with something of a warning.
“As someone who loves test cricket, my one thing to say is — is this something that will benefit test cricket going forward? I don’t think so.”
The match might have reached Day 4, but only because almost the whole of the third day’s play was washed out.
“If you got tickets on Day 1, you would have absolutely had a great time — wickets going everywhere, balls flying off everywhere, because that’s how the batsmen decided it was the best way to score runs,” Stokes said.
“But the other side of it … if there wasn’t any rain, the game’s going to end early. Is that what we want to end up doing? You sort of want to find somewhere in the middle.”
Stokes, however, praised his team for adapting to a pitch that had batters laughing as they were walking back to the dressing room after dismissals, such was their bemusement at the ball movement and uncertainty of their own footwork.
Indeed, Stokes was seen shaking his head in disbelief after he was removed for a three-ball duck in the second innings by a delivery from Nathan Smith that straightened as it angled in and hit the top of off-stump.
“It doesn’t take anything away from the way that we had to operate this week,” he said. “We’ve come here. We played a game and a brand of cricket that allowed us to be successful in these conditions.
“We might turn up next week, and it’ll be completely different, and then we have to do something there.”
That’s a message supported by New Zealand captain Tom Latham ahead of the second test at The Oval starting June 17.
“I think it’s important we don’t delve too much into this game,” Latham said. “We understand we’ll go to The Oval and conditions will be a lot better than they have been here.”
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