This summer at Lord’s, there has been a subtle but significant difference in the process of pitch preparation.

On head groundsman Karl McDermott’s team are two women, New Zealander Meg Lay and Australian Emma Lynch. They are the first females to be part of the ground staff at Lord’s, which is unique in English cricket in employing two women on its grounds team.

“I reckon nearly every day I have that pinch me feeling,” Lynch tells Telegraph Sport. “How on earth has anyone let me work here? The big days like a Test match, especially given that was Jimmy’s [Anderson] last Test, and the women’s T20 this week are surreal, but every day is amazing, whether you’ve got internationals or school kids playing.”

Both women are steeped in cricket, but have taken circuitous routes to its home. Lay grew up on a farm south of Christchurch on New Zealand’s South Island. Both her parents played and so did she, but it was not until she moved to Bristol and lived with professional players a couple of years ago that she entered the sports turf industry.

“They came home from training one day, and they said their ground staff were really short, so I offered to give them a hand,” says Lay. “They didn’t ask me to leave, so I was with Gloucestershire for a couple of years, then got the opportunity to move to Lord’s.”

Lynch is from Melbourne. She did an apprenticeship at a golf club, before moving into Australian Rules and cricket at St Kilda’s Junction Oval, a venue used for both the international and domestic game. She moved to the UK to work at Tottenham Hotspur’s training ground, before joining Lord’s on a summer contract.

“Cricket is easily the most complicated,” she says. “It’s because of the pitch preparation element. Golf has different surfaces but it’s all about maintaining firmness. AFL or football is all just outfield. Pitch preparation is a genuine art, and not a lot of people understand it.”

On a match day, the nine-strong grounds team arrive at 6.30am and will not leave “until a few hours after play has ended”. In the winter, Lay – who is one of five who work year-round – will “get my weekends back” in returning to a more standard 40-hour week. That is when McDermott will plot the pitches for the following season. There are 20 pitches in all, six of which are central enough on the square to be used for a TV broadcast. In total this summer, they have more than 60 days of action. Lord’s comes with unique challenges, mainly from the slope.

“When we water the square, we have to be so careful,” says Lay. “Because if we are watering up the slope, a pitch for next week and trying to get as much water in as possible, it runs down on to the pitch we are playing on now, then that pitch is done. It provides its challenges, but is also the reason the drainage is so good.”

This summer’s other big challenge has come from the weather. Lay confirms that ground staff spend as much time frantically refreshing the same weather apps as the average cricket fan. Lynch adds: “Weather like this summer’s makes it trickier. Sometimes all the pitches need a good bake in the sun and that has just not been around.”

Lay and Lynch are committed to promoting their profession to anyone interested, but especially women. Lay has a successful TikTok account “The Groundswoman” that takes viewers behind the scenes.

“I think people just don’t know much about our industry,” she says. “Some of the criticism of pitches can be frustrating, because I’m not sure people understand all the nuances. That is why both of us are really keen to promote what we actually do in the industry so that people are aware that it is so much more than cutting grass. Even as a player I had no idea what it was.

“There are a few women dotted around. But this is the only cricket ground that employs two women. There’s one or two football grounds that have some. But it is pretty rare. The pitch for the women’s Ashes match at Edgbaston last year was created completely by women. I was recruiting to join the team and it took me months to find eight women. That’s from all sports. At the time there were only three of us working in first-class cricket in the UK. That was a real mission, and a real eye opener to the fact that there aren’t many of us. We make up two per cent of the industry.

“There are so many pathways in. I am unqualified, learning on the job. I’ve done a few certificates. You can go to university and do diplomas, soil science. Or you can get work experience, volunteer at your local club. There are so many jobs in sports turf and nowhere near enough people to fill them. I would go as far as saying it’s an industry that is completely on its knees. Lord’s is lucky, it has the allure of being the home of cricket, so will always find staff. A lot of other first-class grounds don’t have that luxury, the experienced staff that are required.”

Lynch chimes in, adding that it is a great industry for what she calls “failed athletes” – those who did not quite make the grade: “It’s active, outdoors, and you work in a team”.

“You can’t be what you can’t see,” she adds. “I hope that by seeing us out there on the ground, if little girls and boys can go: ‘Actually anyone can do this, it’s not strictly a male industry.’ It’s word of mouth, and people aren’t speaking about it that much!”

On Wednesday, Lord’s hosts England women against Lay’s homeland. The pair believe that preparing pitches for women’s cricket is a different art to men’s, with a little more grass required to counter the lack of weight and height of the players involved.

“It hasn’t been researched, but it needs to be,” says Lay. “Emma and I have a few hunches as to what helps women’s cricket. We both like to leave a bit more grass on for a women’s game to give it a bit more pace and bounce. I think we should be preparing pitches differently. The ball is coming from a different height, it’s coming on a bit slower. How do we showcase the best of women’s talent by preparing a pitch that suits that? I would love to see the ECB fund some research into that.”

The dream for both is to work on a women’s Test at Lord’s. “I’d love to be a part of that,” says Lay. “Test cricket is the pinnacle, and women’s sport is the biggest reason I am in the industry. That would be amazing.”