England vs New Zealand: Ben Stokes says Lord’s pitch does not benefit Test format

In response to the criticism of the pitch, the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), owners of Lord’s, admitted the surface had fallen short of expectations.

“We recognise that the pitch for this Test has shown more variable bounce than we would have wanted,” said MCC chief executive and secretary Rob Lawson.

“We hold ourselves to the highest standards and are naturally frustrated when a surface falls short of those expectations.

“MCC invests significantly each year in the preparation of the main square at Lord’s, as well as in research, technology and expertise aimed at producing pitches that provide a fair and consistent contest between bat and ball.

“The unusually hot and dry weather during May, followed by wetter conditions in the lead-up to the match, presented a number of challenges in preparing the pitch.”

Lord’s regularly hosts two England men’s Tests each summer and this year will stage its first women’s Test, when England meet India.

After holding the final of the World Test Championship last year, it will also host the final of the Women’s T20 World Cup in July.

In February, the MCC published its cricket strategy, when it stated the “square must be at the forefront of the club’s priorities”.

The MCC has copied a technique of “steaming”, which is used by the All England Lawn Tennis Club for the courts that host Wimbledon.

It involves pumping “200 degrees of steam” seven inches into the turf. The club said the process will result in “positive improvements”, but also admitted the need to re-lay the square. The MCC is also experimenting with drop-in pitches, which are heavily used in Australia.

For England and Stokes, perhaps the manner of victory was not important following their 4-1 defeat on the Ashes tour of Australia.

All of the skipper, coach Brendon McCullum and director of cricket Rob Key remained in their posts despite the heavy loss down under.

And Stokes admitted he was aware the increased pressure the management may have come under had England been on the wrong end of another defeat.

“I’m not going to lie, I’m very, very happy that we’ve won this week,” he said. “I knew how big this game was in terms of the result and how it was going to be perceived externally if it didn’t go well.

“I won’t be really happy until I get to share a beer with the boys.

“We’ve won the first game of the summer, it’s great we’ve managed to do it, but we’ve got five more to go. We’re one Test down, and there’s a long way to go still.”