Gautam Gambhir vs Lee Fortis: All you need to know about Oval pitch curator who sparked the controversy

Gautam Gambhir vs Lee Fortis: All you need to know about Oval pitch curator who sparked the controversy (X/WG_RumblePants)

Gautam Gambhir got into a heated argument with pitch curator Lee Fortis at The Oval stadium during Team India's first training session ahead of their last Test against England on Tuesday. Gambhir was seen shouting and aggressively pointing finger at Fortis.

Sitanshu Kotak, the batting coach for India, later disclosed that when the Indian team management went to check out the wicket, The Oval staff asked them to stand two and a half meters away from it. This led to the altercation between Fortis and India's head coach Gambhir.

Explained | 'You can be protective, but not arrogant': What transpired the fight between Gautam Gambhir and Oval curator

Who is Lee Fortis?

Fortis has been in charge of the pitch at The Oval in London since taking over from Bill Gordon in 2012. Fortis had previously served as an assistant head groundsman at the Oval until leaving the position in 2006. He worked as a caretaker at the City of London's Honourable Artillery Company.

Fortis won the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) 2024 Grounds Manager of the Year Award for the greatest multi-day pitches for the third year in a row after taking over the Oval ground as Surrey's Head of Ground Staff.

The UK's top membership organization for groundskeepers, the Grounds Management Association (GMA), released the following statement: “Fortis and his team at the Oval earned consistently outstanding marks for their County Championship and Test pitches during the 2024 domestic and international season to win the Bernard Flack Memorial Trophy. This is also the fourth time in total that Fortis has scooped the prize since starting his role since 2012.”