In a move bound to make some Englishmen choke over their breakfasts, the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) are to install grass pitches grown in Australia at Lord's. According to a report published in The Times, construction work has just begun on the first two portable pitches to be embedded in England. These are currently on the practice Nursery ground, situated just behind the main Lord's ground itself, which were originally cultivated in Melbourne. The cost of the operation is £60,000 ($85,200) and at least three more pitches are expected to make a similar journey to London.

MCC would like more major matches at Lord's which presently stages two Test matches, two domestic cup finals, one-day internationals as well as some Middlesex home fixtures during the course of the season. Should the new surfaces meet with the approval of MCC head groundsman Mick Hunt, they could be used for minor matches within the next two seasons.

Eventually, as already happens at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, top-flight fixtures will be staged on drop-in-pitches situated in the centre of the square. That would certainly alter the character of matches at Lord's, a small ground by Australian standards. Pitch positioning often leads to a short square boundary in front of the Tavern stand which in turn influences field placings and batting approaches alike.

Drop-in pitches were first pioneered in Australia over 20 years ago by Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket, whose 'rebel' matches were denounced by MCC at the time.

But MCC insists there are sound reasons for transporting the pitches, which are six to eight inches deep and placed on concrete trays, from one side of the world to the other. "There is a much higher clay content in the soil in Australia and pitches bed down much quicker than they do in England," Tony Dodemaide MCC's head of cricket told The Times. "They can be put into the square when needed and the groundsman can have complete control over their preparation without worrying about fielders running on them."

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