Rohan Chowdhury, Oval
On the morning of Wednesday, a day before the fifth and final Test between England and India at The Oval, England began their practice session at 9:30 am local time. However, what drew early attention was a scene about 20 minutes before the start of training: England captain Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum were spotted in an unfettered pitch inspection with The Oval’s chief curator, Lee Fortis.
The calm and open access stood in stark contrast to events from the previous day, when headlines were made during India’s training session. A heated exchange took place between India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir and Fortis, after the Indian team management was denied close access to the pitch.
According to India’s batting coach, Shitanshu Kotak, the curator insisted they remain at least 2.5 metres away from the surface. “We were told to stay 2.5 metres away since they were trying to grow some grass on the square,” Kotak said at a press conference on Tuesday. With a grim expression, he added: “I don’t know how much grass they expect to grow in two days.”
When questioned by the media, Fortis remained evasive. “You have seen how he (Gambhir) behaved. I don’t want to say much,” he remarked, refusing to elaborate further.
Yet, on the match-eve, the situation appeared to have shifted. England’s leadership, Stokes and McCullum, were freely inspecting the pitch in Fortis’s presence — a freedom not extended to their Indian counterparts just a day earlier.
🚨 England thinktank inspect the pitch on the eve of the Oval Test in the presence of chief curator Lee Fortis!
👀👇#ENGvIND #ENGvsIND pic.twitter.com/l0TQFynrbz
— RevSportz Global (@RevSportzGlobal) July 30, 2025
Later in the session, England batters Ollie Pope and Joe Root spent nearly five minutes on the pitch, doing shadow practice of their batting stances. Notably, Fortis and the ground staff were nowhere in sight during this period. They were also wearing batting studs, something the curator had reportedly objected to when addressing the Indian team’s conduct the day before.
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Also Read The Lee Fortis chronicles – The controversial chief curator at the Oval who clashed with Gautam Gambhir