Former England captain Michael Vaughan has questioned the quality of the Lord’s pitch after 16 wickets fell on the opening day of the first Test between England and New Zealand, saying the surface showed signs of inconsistent bounce and was not a good Test wicket despite producing an entertaining contest.
England were bowled out for 140 in less than 40 overs on Thursday, with New Zealand pacer Kyle Jamieson taking five wickets. England responded strongly with Ollie Robinson claiming 4 for 10, reducing New Zealand to 61 for 6 at stumps.
At one stage, New Zealand slumped to 2 for 3 after Robinson dismissed Devon Conway, Kane Williamson and Rachin Ravindra in his opening over.
Speaking to BBC Test Match Special, Vaughan said the pitch’s uneven bounce was evident from the number of dismissals and LBW appeals.
“From what I’ve seen on that pitch today, there’s certainly been a number of balls where we’ve seen snickoffs, and we’ve seen a lot of LBWs where the players have been kind of on the front foot playing a forward defence. The balls just thudded into the pads, which tells you that the pitch is a little bit inconsistent in terms of bounce,” Vaughan said.
— bbctms (@bbctms) 'Royally entertained' Michael Vaughan slams Lord's
While he admitted the match had been entertaining, Vaughan said the surface itself was a concern.
“I’ve been royally entertained. 16 wickets on day one. I don’t think it’s a good pitch. I think the MCC will be the first to admit that there’s something not quite right with this square at Lords. It has been an issue for a few years now, since we had the test match against India last year. Brilliant game, and it was a great finish to a test match, but the pitch wasn’t great. And the test match being so good in the end, I guess, stopped us all talking about the pitch. This isn’t a great test match wicket, but we’re royally entertained. I’m sure we’ll have a great test match,” he added.
The conditions at Lord’s favoured the seamers throughout the day. There was no spin bowling, and overcast weather helped the fast bowlers make an impact.
New Zealand ended the day under pressure at 61 for 6 after England’s bowling fightback, with Robinson’s return to Test cricket proving decisive on the opening day.
