On Tuesday, July 29, India’s head coach, Gautam Gambhir, and The Oval’s pitch curator, Lee Fortis, got into a heated argument. Word has it the fight started because Fortis wouldn’t let the visiting team check out the pitch. Things got ugly with some bad language thrown around.
India’s batting coach, Sitanshu Kotak, said that Fortis told Gambhir and his crew to stay at least 2.5 meters away from the main pitch area, which seemed a bit much.
The situation worsened when Fortis loudly scolded the support staff for putting a cooler near the field. That’s when Gambhir lost it, saying, “You don’t tell us what to do. You’re just a groundsman; stay in your capacity.
Who exactly is Lee Fortis?
Lee Fortis has been Surrey’s head groundsman since 2012, taking over from Bill Gordon. He’s in charge of getting the pitch ready before each game.
Fortis is known for creating some of the best Test pitches in county cricket and has won the England & Wales Cricket Board’s Grounds Manager of the Year award four times, even winning it three years in a row from 2022 to 2024.
Before this, he was also in charge of the Honourable Artillery Company ground in London. So, Fortis is no newbie; he’s been in this line of work for quite a while.
Interestingly, Fortis apparently has a reputation for not being too friendly with visiting teams. There are stories about a similar run-in with the Indian Women’s cricket team when they played a T20 match against England Women at The Oval earlier in July.
Sitanshu Kotak also mentioned in a press conference that he already knew about Lee Fortis’ behavior. Kotak tried to calm things down, but Gautam Gambhir was not happy about the alleged foul language used toward his staff.
He warned Fortis not to disrespect his coaching staff and to stay in line. As of now, neither the Indian team nor the Surrey staff has filed a formal complaint about any bad behavior.
