Portable wickets, cultivated in metal trays and dropped into place on a match-to-match basis, may one day be a feature of English cricket, if an experiment underway at Lord's proves to be a success. International venues such as the Melbourne Cricket Ground and the Westpac Trust Stadium in Wellington, where England have just been thrashed in the second one-day international against New Zealand, have already pioneered the scheme, which enables the grounds to be used for other sports such as rugby and Australian Rules Football, without fear of damaging the wicket.

It remains to be seen whether the English climate will be conducive to the scheme. But Lord's has already imported several of the metal trays from Australia, which will replace the artificial nets on the Nursery Ground. The head groundsman, Mick Hunt, will then seed and grow the wickets in the usual manner, though it will take up to eighteen months before they have settled sufficiently for the surfaces to be tested.

Even if the first phase of the project proves a success, drop-in pitches will not be considered on the main square for several years.

Portable pitches are not the only innovation on the domestic front for English cricket, which looks set to follow football's example with increased sponsorship logos and numbered shirts.

The ICC made the move feasible by permitting a 32-inch logo on the back of umpires' clothing in one-day internationals, and this will now be adopted in the County championship as well. The ECB has also approved the use of player names and numbers on the back of shirts, after Lancashire successfully pioneered the scheme during the 2001 season.

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