Chances for a Quicker Wicket? McCullum Wants 'Spicy' Lord's Pitch After Edgbaston Loss

Following England's defeat at Edgbaston, where captain Ben Stokes described the pitch as a "subcontinent pitch," coach Brendon McCullum is hoping for a different surface at Lord's for the third Test. McCullum expressed his desire for a "spicier" pitch with more pace and bounce.

McCullum told The Telegraph he hopes for "Something with a bit more pace, a bit more bounce, and maybe a little bit of sideways, hopefully.”

After suffering a heavy 337-run defeat to India in the second Test, which leveled the five-match series at 1-1, England is looking to bounce back.

England has added Gus Atkinson to their squad, with the potential return of Jofra Archer to Test cricket after a four-year absence also a possibility.

McCullum admitted that the team misread the Edgbaston pitch and praised the Indian bowlers for exploiting the conditions.

"Obviously we made the decision to bowl first," he stated.

“We were thinking that the pitch would get better as the game went on, and we probably got that one wrong. We saw that it was probably more of a subcontinent-type pitch, and I thought India were exceptional."

He lauded Shubman Gill's batting performance and acknowledged Akash Deep's effectiveness on the surface.

“They played brilliantly with the bat in hand. Shubman Gill was batting at an elite level. Obviously, the way they bowled — Akash Deep in particular — they’ve grown up playing on those sorts of surfaces, where you’ve got to slam that slightly fuller length, and us bowling first presented them with those opportunities. Obviously, the footmarks started to create some issues as well. You don’t always get every decision right.”