Follow UsNew cycle, same old misery for England as Ben Stokes’ men have become the first team in the new World Test Championship (WTC) cycle to be deducted points for slow over-rate. They have been deducted two points and fined 10% of their match fee for slow over-rate in the third Test against India at Lord's.
England were deducted a whopping 22 points from the 2023-25 WTC cycle for slow over-rate, and they’ve already started losing points two games into the new cycle.
Richie Richardson of the Emirates ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees imposed the sanction after England were ruled to be two overs short of the target after time allowances were taken into consideration. As per Article 16.11.2 of the ICC World Test Championship playing conditions, a side is penalised one point for each over short.
An official release from the ICC read, “England captain Ben Stokes pled guilty to the offence and accepted the proposed sanction, so there was no need for a formal hearing. On-field umpires Paul Reiffel and Sharfuddoula Ibne Shahid, third umpire Ahsan Raza, and fourth umpire Graham Lloyd levelled the charge.”
England, as a result, have slipped to third spot in the WTC standings, below Sri Lanka. Australia are top with a PCT of 100%, having whitewashed the West Indies 3-0 in the Caribbean.