England and Australia have been deducted crucial ICC World Test Championship points and fined for sustaining a sluggish over-rate during the Ashes.
Under the revised regulations, they were fined five percent of their match fee and one WTC point for each over that was short.
Australia has been deducted 10 WTC points from the recently concluded Ashes series for a sluggish over-rate in the fourth Test at Old Trafford, while England has been penalized 19 points for falling behind in four of the five matches. In the WTC, teams earn 12 points for a Test victory, 4 points for a tie, and no points for a defeat.
Ricky Ponting’s take on the slow over-rate fines
England fell short in the first Test at Edgbaston by two overs, in the second Test at Lord’s by nine overs, in the fourth Test at Old Trafford by three overs, and in the fifth and final Test at The Oval by five overs.
Typically, a team must bowl ninety overs per day.
The most recent modifications to the over-rate penalties in Tests were announced at the ICC Annual Conference in Durban, South Africa on Thursday, July 13, and went into effect at the beginning of the current WTC cycle.
For 10 overs in Manchester (fourth Test), Australia was fined 50 percent of their match fee (five percent for each over short, up to a maximum of 50 percent).
For slow-over rate violations in the first two and last two Tests, England has been fined 10 percent of their match fee for the first Test, 45 percent for the second Test, 15 percent for the fourth Test, and 25 percent for the fifth Test.
