Lord's all set to get a hybrid pitch on the historic square

The cricketing venue of Lord’s is revered as the Mecca of Cricket. The ground is arguably the most iconic venue in the world cricket. Every cricket aspirant wishes to play at the ground at least once in their lifetime. The ground officials and the administrators also ensure that they keep the venue updated to the newest trends.

In the recent times, there has been a lot of talk about using the hybrid pitches in cricket. Last season, the County Club of Warwickshire had expressed their plans of using these hybrid pitches for some matches in the future. And now, as per the reports in Sky Sports, the Lord’s is in process of having a partly synthetic pitch installed on the grandstand side of the iconic pitch square at the venue.

This pitch, when completely installed, could potentially be the first ever artificial surface to host a County match. However, it is being speculated that the wicket will predominantly be used for practice and the minor games. For now, the surface could host the limited overs matches of Middlesex. However, it is not allowed to host the international matches or First Class matches. This is because of the reason that the artificial surfaces are not sanctioned by the International Cricket Council (ICC) yet.

What are hybrid pitches?

Hybrid pitches are common in football. The iconic Wembley Stadium uses this technology. About 90 per cent of the pitch will be grass. But in addition to that, the pitch will also have plastic yarn which will be inserted into the ground using a laser-guided stitching machine, helping to bind the grass roots together. Edgbaston already uses a synthetic pitch on the edge of the square at their venue.

They had installed the same in the end of the 2016 season. Meanwhile, the Worcestershire club uses these hybrid surfaces in their nets. If Lord’s gets these hybrid pitches, then it is expected to be a historic move. Many other clubs could follow the move after witnessing the developments at the iconic venue.

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