MCC removes pitch after ICC penalty for substandard Test match surface

The Marylebone Cricket Club has removed the pitch used for a Test match at Lord's in June. The International Cricket Council gave the pitch a demerit point for being 'unsatisfactory'. The decision followed a match where 40 wickets fell across only 166 overs of play. The pitch was deemed to have offered excessive assistance to bowlers, compromising the balance between bat and ball.