England will push for over-rate penalty reform in Test cricket following Ben Stokes’ fury regarding the existing rules at the next International Cricket Council meeting.
In the current cycle of the World Test Championship, England have been deducted 22 points for bowling fewer than the requisite 15 overs an hour – almost as many points as the other eight competing nations combined. One point is deducted for every over a team falls short of bowling during an allotted time. Those points deductions are significant, given that teams earn 12 points for winning a Test and four for a draw.
Additionally, players are fined five per cent of their match fee for every over that their team falls short of bowling per innings, with the maximum penalty capped at 50 per cent of their fee.
The sanctions have prompted criticism from Stokes, who is refusing to sign post-match paperwork concerning over-rate penalties in protest against the system.
“I won’t [sign] until we hear some communication back from the ICC,” Stokes said during the series in New Zealand. “We’re still waiting for that. But they still take the fines off you anyway.”
Changes to over-rate penalties will be discussed by the Men’s Cricket Committee at the next ICC meeting, which will be held in March. Richard Gould, the chief executive of the England & Wales Cricket Board, is set to address the committee, and raise potential changes to the current rules. England are understood to be consulting with a range of voices inside the game before putting together proposals for consideration by the ICC.
There is a widespread feeling within the game that the current system is not working as intended, and the meeting is likely to discuss issues including whether the rules could be relaxed in cases when over-rates do not prevent positive results and how the system can be tweaked to be more transparent.
Any changes to over-rate penalties would need to be agreed swiftly before the 2025-27 edition of the World Test Championship, which commences in June next year. During the current World Test Championship cycle, England’s over-rate penalties scuppered their hopes of reaching the final even before the run of four defeats in their past seven Tests.
‘Unfair’ 80-over cut-off
The sanctions against England have come in spite of the team’s aggressive Bazball style and the virtual eradication of draws during matches involving the side. Since Brendon McCullum took over as head coach, England have played 35 Tests, winning 22 and losing 12. Just one Test – at Old Trafford in the 2023 Ashes – has been drawn, after only one session of play was possible on the last two days.
Criticism has also been raised about how over-rate penalties are enforced only when innings last more than 80 overs. In practice, this can mean that teams are either heavily sanctioned, or escape without any punishment whatsoever, depending on whether they bowl a side out just before or just after the 80-over mark.
The bar on penalising fielding teams when they bowl out opponents within 80 overs came into force after Australia player Usman Khawaja successfully lobbied the ICC during the 2023 Ashes.
Teams penalised for bowling seam
From 18.5 overs an hour in the 1950s, over-rates have plummeted to just 13.6 an hour this decade, research from the Sky Sports statistician Benedict Bermange has shown. The growing use of technology, including for players to review decisions by umpires, has slowed over rates further.
England have been particularly prone to slow over-rates in recent years. Since 2019, there have been 20 over-rate penalties in Test cricket, with nine committed by England alone. Even when England bowl a significant amount of spin, they often still fall well short of the over-rate requirements. On day one of the Christchurch Test in New Zealand, Shoaib Bashir bowled 20 overs, yet England delivered only 83 overs.
“We’re not purposely being slower,” Stokes said before the second Test in New Zealand. “It’s hard to find where you can get the time back when you’re out in the middle. As a captain, I like to change things quite a lot. The field could be completely different [for each] six balls in an over. But that’s not taken into consideration and getting told to just hurry up isn’t going to fix it.”
Stokes also said that “there needs to be some consideration around how over-rates differ when it’s a seam-dominant Test match”, a point recently echoed by Tom Latham. New Zealand’s captain suggested that the mandatory rate of 15 overs an hour was unrealistic for sides who predominantly bowl seam.
“It’s certainly a challenge to get through those 15 overs an hour if the ball is flying to the boundary a little bit more than usual,” Latham said. “We’ve seen in the subcontinent, where a lot of spin is used, that it isn’t necessarily an issue.”
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