Latest news with #LeeFortis
The Guardian
11 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Gambhir's India can't escape the Fortis-verse on rain-hit day
Nothing does irony quite like Test cricket. Say what you like about the world's most desiccated, Miss Havisham-ish team sport, out there trailing around the post-colonial world still dressed in its yellowing wedding dress. It's definitely got a sense of humour. On day one of the fifth England-India Test this was expressed in cosmic terms, and a single bold and improbable dramatic arc. Talk about groundsmen a lot. Tell groundsmen they're nothing. One thing is for sure. You're going to find yourself spending quite a lot of time watching groundsmen. Or in this case watching the personage we must now refer to as controversial groundsman Lee Fortis, celebrity Oval pitch curator Lee Fortis, an otherwise peripheral figure with a name that sounds like an Anglo-Saxon burial site in Norfolk, but who was promoted in the buildup to this Test into an instrument of the sporting-political power struggle. And so it came to pass in the first two sessions at the Oval, as India and England traipsed on and off between the showers, and Fortis loomed, somehow inevitably, centre stage. Here is Lee Fortis striding about his domain in classic shorts and boots combos, like a proud, captive bear. Here is Lee Fortis tugging at a tarpaulin. Here is Lee Fortis all alone in his lime green field as the drizzle fell and the walkways around the ground took on the feel of a slowly sinking ship peopled only by pint-sozzled mariners in chino shorts, and watched from behind the plateglass by his chief adversary, India's head coach, Gautam Gambhir. In a Test series shot through with politics, rumblings and noises off, they've finally dragged in the bloke with the rake. Welcome to the Fortis-verse. It is the most unlikely turn of events. Fortis is familiar figure around here, a huge ambling man with the classic groundsman's shape, as though he's been hinged together out of sacks of cement and packed into a pair of shorts. Who thinks of the groundsman? What are they? They sit on mowers. They walk with sawdust buckets. They follow the seasons, disturbed only by their personal kryptonite, people walking near a rope, signal for instant and uncontainable explosions of boggle-eyed fury. And yet, look a little closer, squint at the magic eye picture, and something else has begun to emerge here, the groundsman as instrument of power and conspiracy. By 2pm on Thursday afternoon, 48 hours on from that unnecessary spat with Gambhir, Fortis had been memed and replicated and spun out across the global hive mind. Oval curator breaks silence. Fortis v Gambhir: the full story. Who is Lee Fortis and what does he mean? There are Fortis YouTube clips (jerky spat footage; weird ad hoc media huddle) that have been viewed two million times. Lee Fortis stuns fans with body transformation. This simple Lee Fortis trick will change your life for ever. Seventeen times Lee Fortis broke the internet (No 12 will shock you!) More fuel was added overnight as R Ashwin labelled Fortis a habitual offender. Really? It's not the first time he's yelled at people to get off his square? You shock me. Meanwhile, the groundsman community has sprung to his defence, a Facebook page speaking for this maligned minority demanding respect, understanding, a safe space for its members. What next? A Fortis spin-off vehicle. The Fortis origins story. A Fortis male grooming range. Jake Paul calls out Lee Fortis in sensational Vegas standoff. Or perhaps it won't come to that. Because this is at the same time absolutely nothing, chaff, gossip, and also a grim little episode that reflects poorly on Gambhir in particular; and perhaps also on the general power dynamics of elite cricket in its current form. The initial incident was a standard stramash over practising too close, or so Fortis said, to the square. Gambhir's response was furious. Any situation where you end up wagging a finger and shouting, 'You're nothing, you're just a groundsman, nothing beyond that,' is one that has lost any sense of scale. Later Fortis was swarmed by Indian journalists and gave the greatest no comment interview of all time, unveiling a technique that should be urgently coached to all celebrities and politicians, which basically involves just saying 'I'm not ... You're not ... I'm not really,' to every question. Sign up to The Spin Subscribe to our cricket newsletter for our writers' thoughts on the biggest stories and a review of the week's action after newsletter promotion It is a fairly simple divvying up at this point. Gambhir was always in the wrong here. First because all groundsmen are grumpy. They have to venerate, love and fetishise this patch of green. They have the artist's temperament. They feel the hand of history. They basically just want you to stay off their square and stop playing cricket. But mainly Gambhir was wrong because of the ugliness of his choice of words, and the sense of punching down. England got to show their boorishness in Manchester. This was India's turn. India's coach is a born-to-rule type, high caste Hindu, private schoolboy, son of a wealthy industrialist, BJP politician, a Jay Shah man, a Modi guy. It sits a little uncomfortably to hear anyone with such privilege dismissing a bloke with a bucket as 'nothing', unqualified to make demands of his betters. In this context Gambhir v Fortis speaks, if you choose to see it, to the way India wields its commercial and political power in this sport; to the sense that here is an overlord nation that can basically do what it wants, that is in effect untouchable. This is the most unfavourable version of events. More prosaically Gambhir does just love a fight, is essentially a grudge in a cap, outspoken and commendably feisty. In a happier turn there was at least a kind of rapprochement at the start of play between Fortis and India's players, a little wary banter and some smiles. After which, once the showers had cleared, it was a case of the groundsman's revenge, as Gambhir got to watch India's batters sparring and hopping and nicking as the ball leapt and jagged about on Fortis' chosen strip. England's pace attack had looked rusty at the start, both Jamie Overton and Josh Tongue perhaps paying tribute the 2.5m distance rule by almost missing the cut part of the pitch. But they chipped away and found movement. Shubman Gill had batted with sculpted elegance, all perfect arms, shoulders, lines, balletic in the way he shifts his weight, then ran himself out trying to take a single to Gus Atkinson's right hand in his follow through. With India on 204 for six at the end of play the series already felt a little safer. Hopefully the age of Lee is also done. Andy Warhol would later revise his most famous line to the more depressingly accurate 'in 15 minutes everyone will be famous'. Fortis had his day in the gloom. With any luck hands will now be shaken, an unpleasant tone revised, and the whole thing can be safely packed away in the shed behind the pigeon nets.
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Inside England and India's bitter feud: Why the fiercest Test series in years is about so much more than cricket - as insiders reveal what each side really thinks of the other
Tuesday's squabble on the Oval square between Gautam Gambhir and Lee Fortis looked unequal on paper: the coach of the world's most powerful team – and a former MP for India 's ruling BJP party – versus a local groundsman, armed with little more than a metaphorical rake. But it touched on a broader truth: these days, the cricket communities of India and England need little excuse to get under each other's skin. And that skin, on both sides, can be surprisingly thin.
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Sport
- Daily Mail
India captain Shubman Gill labels pitch exchange with Oval groundsman 'absolutely unnecessary' as he backs coach Gautam Gambhir in spat
Shubman Gill insists India 's treatment while assessing the Oval pitch was 'absolutely unnecessary' after tempers frayed once again on the eve of the Test series finale against England. Twenty four hours after Gautam Gambhir was involved in a finger-wagging spat with Surrey head groundsman Lee Fortis, his captain Gill weighed in with unequivocal support. 'What happened yesterday, I thought is just absolutely unnecessary. It's not the first time that we were having a look at the wicket and we have been here for almost two months,' Gill said. 'A coach has every right to be able to go close quarters and have a look at the wicket. I didn't think that there was anything wrong with that. I actually don't know why the curator would not allow us to go have a look at the wicket.' Gill pointed out that India's inspection was 'from three metres away' and that it was normal to be able to stand on the square in either rubber soles or bare feet. However, Mail Sport understands that Fortis was unhappy that members of the Indian dressing-room were using parts of the main square he was keen to protect, as well pulling their equipment across it during their net session. VIDEO | Indian team's head coach Gautam Gambhir was seen having verbal spat with chief curator Lee Fortis at The Oval Cricket Ground in London ahead of the last Test match of the series starting Thursday. After having drawn the fourth Test at Old Trafford, India have a chance… — Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) July 29, 2025 Fortis had warned England's support staff to carry and not drag their bags across the playing expanse, concerned about potential damage caused by boots and the bags' wheels given that the Oval has already hosted 60 days of cricket this summer. Gambhir did not take kindly to the request, with Indian media reporting that he told Fortis: 'You don't tell me what to do.' Fortis, who in 2024 was named ECB groundsman of the year for the third year in succession, was then spoken to in more conciliatory fashion by Indian batting coach Shitanshu Kotak. Images of England coach Brendon McCullum standing alongside the pitch then began being circulated around the world, although it is understood that they are from two years ago.
India Today
2 days ago
- Sport
- India Today
Did Gautam Gambhir cold-shoulder Oval pitch curator in second meet? Video goes viral
Indian men's head coach Gautam Gambhir seemed to have given Kennington Oval curator Lee Fortis a cold shoulder - at least that's evident from the latest video going viral on social media before the fifth and final Test, starting Thursday, July came to Gambhir, who seemed to have turned his back towards him as the curator kept interacting with Shubman Gill, the Indian Test captain. Thereafter, Gambhir walked past the curator without looking at the videoWhen Lee Fortis met Gautam Gambhir again#ENGvsIND Sandipan Banerjee (@im_sandipan) July 30, 2025Gautam Gambhir vs Lee Fortis Earlier, Gambhir was involved in a heated altercation with Fortis during India's optional training session at The Oval on Tuesday, July 29. The confrontation reportedly arose when Fortis instructed Indian staff to maintain a 2.5metre distance from the main square and objected to equipment being wheeled over incident has sparked debate online, heightened by a resurfaced photo showing Fortis standing on the pitch with England coach Brendon McCullum in 2023 - raising accusations of double Kotak opens upBatting coach Sitanshu Kotak intervened during the fiery exchange and defended the team's conduct, noting they wore joggers, not spikes, and took care not to damage the surface."When we were looking at the pitch, they asked us to stand 2.5m away. We were wearing joggers. It was very odd. Looking at the wicket with rubber spikes, nothing wrong. We see the ground is not damaged. It's a pitch, not antique," Kotak told reporters."The curator yelled at support staff when they were getting ice box. Gambhir objected to that. The way he spoke irked Gambhir. Everyone knows the curator at The Oval is not the easiest person to deal with," Kotak are staring at a mustwin fifth Test to level the series against England, as they trail 21 heading into the finale. With key players like Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer sidelined for England, India will rely on returning faces such as Akash Deep and potentially Arshdeep Singh to deliver the 20 required wickets.- EndsMust Watch
The Independent
2 days ago
- Sport
- The Independent
Shubman Gill explains coach's viral argument with Oval groundsman before final Test
An altercation occurred between India head coach Gautam Gambhir and The Oval 's head groundsman Lee Fortis during practice for the fifth Test against England. The dispute arose when Fortis objected to Gambhir and India captain Shubman Gill inspecting the pitch too closely. Gambhir confronted Fortis, asserting the groundsman had no right to dictate their actions and should 'stay in his capacity'. India captain Shubman Gill supported Gambhir, calling Fortis's intervention 'absolutely unnecessary' and unprecedented in their experience. The incident took place ahead of the crucial final Test, with England leading the series 2-1, and England captain Ben Stokes sidelined due to injury.
