England Prepare to Bid Farewell to Happy Hunting Ground

Old Trafford's Test-match retirement party begins tomorrow when England face New Zealand in the second Test and Michael Vaughan dutifully provided the speech in its honor today when he praised the ground as possessing the best cricket wicket in the country. It was an accolade only likely to increase Lancashire's irritation.

It is what surrounds the pitch that is the problem — a jumble of shabby, unappealing stands — and until Old Trafford's problematic £70m development scheme comes to fruition, or the England and Wales Cricket Board changes its attitude, this will be Manchester's last Test. It is already officially the city's last Test until 2012 - the earliest predicted date for a rebuilt Old Trafford to be completed.

Whatever the economics, the cricketing issue is rather different. England like playing at Old Trafford, and normally win there. And Vaughan's contention that Peter Marron's pitches have no equals is widely supported and should not be dismissed as little more than a show of loyalty from a skipper aware of his Manchester birthplace.

"I like playing at Old Trafford and England's record here is excellent,'' Vaughan said. "But it's not for me to say where we should play Test cricket. We just play where we are told to play.

"This could be the best cricket wicket in the country. It's a great place to play cricket and it is often quite attacking cricket. There is pace, some orthodox swing, reverse swing, and you can get some turn and bounce out of it if you bowl spin. But as a seam bowler you have to keep your pace up because if you trundle in at around 80mph then you can disappear around the park.

"As a batsman, you can play shorts off the front and the back foot, especially the back foot. There is always a bit of chin music at Old Trafford. Whatever you do, at Old Trafford you are rewarded for your skills and your effort.''

England last lost at Old Trafford in 2001 when Inzamam's first-innings century set the foundations for Pakistan's 108-run win. Since then, they have beaten West Indies twice, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and had Australia nine down and hanging on desperately during England's victorious Ashes series in 2005.

An estimated 30,000 were locked out that day, but this is New Zealand, only 36 hours after a Champions League final; there are, as they say, still a few tickets available. Empty seats will not impress the ECB, whose award of Test matches is based on a "balanced scorecard,'' which places great emphasis on a county's financial bid for the game.

All that matters to England's players - and the bulk of their supporters - is the match scorecard. But at a time when the emergence of the IPL has sharpened expectations of top players, revenue is more important than ever. Lancashire will not appease the ECB until they have revamped an Old Trafford ground that for a generation has not kept pace with the times.