Ashes: Usman Khawaja slams ICC after docking Australia’s points for slow over-rate

A couple of days after the Ashes series ended, Australia and England were in for a rude shock as the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Wednesday said it docked points and fined both the teams for maintaining slow over-rate.

A couple of days after the Ashes series ended, Australia and England were in for a rude shock as the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Wednesday said it docked points and fined both the teams for maintaining slow over-rate during the recently-concluded contest. The ICC said in a release on its website that both England and Australia, who played out a 2-2 draw with one Test of the five-match series being washed out in Manchester, have been fined one World Test Championship point for every over short, along with match fees.

• "Under the revised regulations, they were fined five per cent of their match fee and one WTC point for every over short," the ICC said.
• In the WTC cycle 2023-25, 12 points are awarded for every Test win and four for a draw.

Australia, who retained the Ashes following a 2-2 draw, were docked 10 points for maintaining a slow over-rate during the fourth Test. But hosts England lost big in the Ashes series as they lost as many as 19 points for falling behind in over-rate in four out of the five Tests.

The ICC said, "England fell two overs short in the first Test at Edgbaston, nine in the second Test at Lord's, three in the fourth Test at Old Trafford, and five in the last and final Test at The Oval." Hence, England lost two points in the opening Test, nine in the second, three in the fourth and five in the fifth match, amounting to a total of 19 points.

The latest santions did not impress Australia star Usman Khawaja at all. "Don't even get the chance to bowl in the second innings at Manchester due to 2 days of rain and @ICC still issue fines and take 10 WTC points of us for slow over rates! That makes a lot of sense..." Khawaja wrote on Twitter.

Don't even get the chance to bowl in the second innings at Manchester due to 2 days of rain and @ICC still issue fines and take 10 WTC points of us for slow over rates! That makes a lot of sense.

The latest changes to the sanctions related to the over-rate were announced during the ICC annual conference in South Africa last month, and they were put into effect on an immediate basis.

• Apart from being docked points, England and Australia were also fined for their errors. "Australia were handed a 50 per cent fine of their match fee (five per cent for each over short with a maximum of 50 per cent) for 10 overs in Manchester (fourth Test)," the ICC said.
• "England have been fined 10 per cent for the first Test, 45 per cent for the second, 15 per cent for the fourth, and 25 per cent for the fifth of their match fee for slow-over rate offences in the first two and the last two Tests respectively," the ICC added.

Pakistan are currently placed at the top spot in the WTC points table following their 2-0 away win against Sri Lanka with 24 points, followed by India at second with 16 points.

Australia, the winners of the last WTC cycle, and England are at third and fourth, respectively. (NDTV)