England have been fined 10 percent of their match fee and penalised two ICC World Test Championship points for maintaining a slow over-rate in the 22-run victory over India in the third Test at Lord’s.
A statement from the International Cricket Council (ICC) said as per Article 16.11.2 of the World Test Championship (WTC) playing conditions, a side is penalised one point for each over short, after taking time allowances into consideration.
Now, after being found guilty of the slow over-rate offence at Lord’s, England’s tally in the WTC standings has dropped from 24 to 22 out of 36 points, consequently reducing their point percentage from 66.67 percent to 61.11 percent.
As a result, England has slipped from second to third position in the WTC points table, with Sri Lanka overtaking them to second spot, sitting just behind table-toppers Australia.
In addition, the ICC also slapped a 10 percent fine on the match fee as per Article 2.22 of the Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to minimum over-rate offences. As per this, players are fined five percent of their match fee for every over if their side fails to bowl in the allotted time.
England captain Ben Stokes pleaded guilty to the offence and accepted the proposed sanction imposed by Richie Richardson of the ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees.
“Due to this, there was no need for a formal hearing. The charges were levelled by on-field umpires Paul Reiffel and Sharfuddoula Ibne Shahid, third umpire Ahsan Raza and fourth umpire Graham Lloyd,” the statement read.
Vaughan questions ICC verdict
Miffed with the ICC’s verdict over England’s over-rate offence, former skipper Michael Vaughan questioned the decision, claiming both India and the hosts maintained similarly slow over-rates during the Lord’s Test.
“Let’s be honest, both teams’ over rates at Lords were very very poor. How only one team has been reprimanded is beyond me…” Vaughan posted on social media.
In reply, former India head coach Ravi Shastri said that the Ben Stokes-led side can make up for their points deduction if their focus remains on winning matches.
“It hurts, as Australia found out in the first cycle of the World Test Championship. They had a slow over rate against India, and it cost them second place, and New Zealand qualified for that final. So you’ve got to be fully aware of all this. There’ll be certain games where they’ll probably make up for it,” said Shastri in a video posted on the ICC’s Instagram account.