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Ben Stokes’s plea for changes to the system of over-rate penalties that led to England being docked 22 points in the World Test Championship and condemned them to a fifth-place finish has been rejected by the International Cricket Council. The ICC Board has opted to maintain the existing rules that impose fines and points deductions on fielding sides who fail to bowl an average of 15 overs per hour in the next edition of the WTC, which begins with England’s five-Test series against India in June.
Stokes first raised complaints about the issue when England and New Zealand were docked three WTC points and all their players were fined 15% of their match fees after the tourist’s eight-wicket win in Christchurch last December. The England captain revealed he had been refusing to sign the over-rate sheets presented by the ICC’s match referee in protest at the system since the 2023 Ashes. England were docked 19 of the 28 WTC points they had won during the thrilling 2-2 series due to their slow over-rate.
Rob Key, the director of England men’s cricket, gave a presentation to the ICC men’s cricket committee arguing against the severity of a system that had a major effect on the final WTC standings. England lost 22 points to finish fifth with a points percentage of 41.5, whereas their win percentage of 51.5 during this period was the third-best behind the finalists, South Africa and Australia, who meet at Lord’s in June. While six of the nine teams were docked points during the WTC England were the most penalised, with Pakistan and Australia the next worst offenders, losing 13 and 10 points respectively.
Over-rates were discussed at a series of ICC committee meetings in Zimbabwe this month, but the Board is understood to have decided against making any changes. The WTC format and regulations will also remain unchanged for the 2025 to 2027 cycle, with proposals over moves to two divisions and tweaks to the points-scoring system put on hold.
Stokes’s complaint was based on his contention that a one-size-fits-all system unfairly penalises teams who play most of their cricket in seam-friendly conditions, where over-rates are inevitably slower. His concerns are shared by the ECB, which is understood to be disappointed that Key’s presentation did not have the desired effect.
The ICC’s intransigence could have significant implications for England’s WTC campaign given their schedule, which includes Test series in Australia and South Africa, where spin bowling is likely to have a limited role. England have two Tests in the subcontinent – in Bangladesh in February 2027 – and with their general preference for seam bowling over-rates are likely to remain problematic.
“The most frustrating thing is that it’s an issue depending on where you are in the world and the style of cricket that’s played,” Stokes said in December. “There’s never an over-rate issue in Asia because of how much spin is played.
“There’s so many tactical decisions that you need to make, whether that be chatting with the bowler or field changes. As a captain, I like to change things quite a lot and the field could be completely different 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, because we’re out there playing a game.
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“The times and the rules are the same wherever you go in the world. From a player’s point of view – and I’m not the only one who shares this opinion – we would like to have a lot more communication with the ICC around this.”
