Cricket fans are questioning why England have seemingly avoided fines and the loss of World Test Championship points for their slow over-rates in the second Ashes Test in Brisbane. Under ICC rules, teams are required to bowl 15 overs per hour during Test matches, which should normally equate to 90 in a day’s play.
The ICC gives consideration to the number of wickets that fall and the conditions at the ground, before determining whether teams have fallen foul of the rules. At the Gabba, England were found to be four overs short of where they should have been in Australia’s first batting innings.
The rules state that teams can have one point deducted from their World Test Championship total for every over they’re short, while the players are all fined five per cent of their match payment per over as well. It was thought that England would be facing a four-point deduction and about $66,000 in fines for falling short of the required rate in Brisbane.
Ben Stokes and England have seemingly avoided sanctions from the ICC for slow over-rates in the second Ashes Test. Image: Getty
But over a week since the second Test finished, the ICC hasn’t made an official announcement. Yahoo Sport Australia has contacted the ICC for clarification, with fans questioning whether England have managed to avoid sanctions.
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One person wrote online: “Can anyone tell me why England hasn’t copped a WTC points deduction and fines for the players from the Gabba Test? I kept hearing from multiple sources within the commentary box that they were 4 overs behind towards the back end of our first innings that went well beyond the 80 over threshold? I would have expected the announcement by now.”
Another responded: “Over rate penalties are normally announced within a few days after each Test. The only time I can think of when it was saved up until the end of a series was the 2023 Ashes where they changed the over-rate rules mid series.
“The only penalties this cycle so far were against England in the Lord’s Test this year, those penalties were announced 2 days after the Test finished. My sense is there has been an instruction to be more lenient with allowances this cycle as we’ve not seen as many penalties so far.”
Australia avoided over-rate penalties due to a quirk in the rules. (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
Why Australia avoided over-rate penalties despite being slow
As the second person pointed out, an official announcement on over-rate penalties would normally come within days of the match finishing. But we’re now closer to the start of the third Test than the completion of the second.
Steve Smith and the Aussies came perilously close to drawing similar sanctions when they were eight overs short in the first innings in Brisbane. But because England failed to bat the minimum 80 overs to draw the penalties, the Aussies escaped.
The rules stipulate that over-rate penalties will only apply in innings that last at least 80 overs. If a team is bowled out twice, they have to have batted a combined 160 overs to trigger the sanctions.
Has the ICC taken heed of Ben Stokes’ plea?
England only batted 76.2 overs in the first innings, and 75.2 in the second. Smith threw the ball to Travis Head and Marnus Labuachagne for an over each in the second innings to try and get the Aussies back towards parity. Because they left out Nathan Lyon, they didn’t have a front-line spinner to speed through some overs quickly.
England were docked a whopping 22 points in the last World Test Championship cycle. Earlier this year, Stokes had called for leniency for teams that don’t call the subcontinent home, pointing out that England, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand will always have slower over-rates than Asian rivals like India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka who use spinners more frequently on their turning pitches. Perhaps the ICC has taken notice, despite stating on the record they’d rejected Stokes’ plea.