Lee Fortis, who made headlines after a heated exchange with India head coach Gautam Gambhir at The Oval in 2025, has left Surrey following disciplinary proceedings over a separate altercation with an ECB employee.Lee Fortis with Gautam Gambhir during the Oval Test of 2025 (Getty Images) Lee Fortis, Surrey's head groundsman who was involved in a heated confrontation with India head coach Gautam Gambhir during the team's 2025 Test tour of England, has left the county club following disciplinary proceedings over his conduct.Fortis, who had been Surrey's head groundsman for more than a decade, was placed on indefinite leave in July after an altercation with an England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) employee at The Oval. The incident took place a day before MI London faced London Spirit in The Hundred at the venue.
He also had a heated exchange with Surrey chief executive Steve Elworthy following the incident and did not return to work for the remainder of the summer.Fortis' LinkedIn profile now indicates that he left Surrey in October and is open to work. A Surrey spokesperson confirmed his departure to Telegraph Sport, saying: "Lee Fortis has left the club and we wish him well for the future."The findings of the disciplinary proceedings have not been made public.
The Cricket Regulator was also reported to have opened an investigation into the July incident but did not comment when approached by Telegraph Sport. There has been no official confirmation that Fortis was dismissed by Surrey.
Fortis had previously attracted considerable attention in July 2025 when he clashed with Gambhir ahead of the fifth and final Test between India and England at The Oval. The disagreement arose during an Indian training session, with the groundsman unhappy about the team's use of the main square and the handling of equipment near the pitch.The exchange was caught on camera, with Gambhir visibly confronting Fortis. "You can go and report to whoever you want, but you can't tell us what to do.
You don't tell us what to do, you're just a groundsman," the India head coach was heard saying. India batting coach Sitanshu Kotak subsequently criticised the manner in which the groundstaff had communicated with the visiting team, describing Fortis as arrogant.
He said the coaching staff had been asked to maintain a distance of 2.5 metres from the wicket while inspecting the surface.Fortis, however, played down the confrontation when approached by Indian media, saying there was nothing to speak about and nothing to hide.The 40-year-old joined Surrey in 2012 and became one of the most recognisable figures in English county cricket. His work at The Oval earned him the ECB Grounds Manager of the Year award for three successive years, from 2022 to 2024.
Surrey also won the County Championship in each of those seasons.His departure comes at a significant time for the club, with The Oval scheduled to host the World Test Championship final in June 2027 and the fifth Ashes Test later that summer. Surrey will now have to find a replacement for a groundsman who had overseen its playing surfaces for more than a decade.- Ends