Ashes cricket news: Australia, England docked WTC points for slow over rates

Australia’s World Test Championship defence has suffered an early setback with slow over rates in Birmingham coming back to haunt Pat Cummins’ side.

Ben Stokes reacts after a late chance in the first Test. Picture: Stu Forster/Getty Images.

Slow over rates have cost both England and Australia, which the Ashes combatants docked two World Test Championship points and fined 40 per cent of their respective match fees following the first Test.

Captains Pat Cummins and Ben Stokes pleaded guilty to the charge, with both sides found to have been two overs shy of their minimum allotted overs when allowances were taken into account.

It is the second straight Test in which Australia has been fined for slow over rates, with the Aussies losing 80 per cent of their match fees in the WTC final.

Opposing captains Pat Cummins and Ben Stokes post-match. Picture: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images.

The points penalty has the greater potential for damage though, given Australia missed the first WTC final in 2021 on the back of a slow over rate points deduction from the 2020 Boxing Day Test.

Cummins addressed the issue of over rates after the WTC final win over India earlier in June.

“It is disappointing when you don’t get as many overs in as you would like,” Cummins said.

“The good thing is we still have a result. To be frank there aren’t many levers that can be pulled within the current rules to basically entice anyone to bowl quickly so maybe it’s something that needs to be revisited. There’s lots of stoppages in play for bending up fingers and those kind of things over the last few days. So yeah fortunately it didn’t affect the result in the end but ideally you’re bowling 90 overs in a day.”

Originally published as Ashes cricket news: Australia, England docked WTC points for slow over rates