Australia and England were fined 40% of their match expenses by the International Cricket Council on Wednesday for slow over rates during an otherwise exhilarating Ashes opener at Edgbaston.
The governing body of cricket stated that each team had been deducted two World Test Championship points for sluggish play.
In accordance with Article 2.22 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, players are fined 20% of their match fee for every over their team fails to bowl within the allotted time, according to an ICC statement.
“Additionally, in accordance with Article 16.11.2 of the ICC World Test Championship playing conditions, teams are penalized one point for each over that is brief. Therefore, two World Test Championship points will be deducted from the totals of both teams.”
Each participant will incur a reported loss of approximately $10,000.
“Captains Pat Cummins and Ben Stokes pled guilty to the offence and accepted the proposed sanctions, so there was no need for formal hearings,” the International Criminal Court said in a statement.
It also means that Australia will start the new two-year World Test Championship with 10 points, while England will be trapped on -2!
But England all-rounder Moeen Ali is likely to be the least pleased of the players, having been fined 25% for administering spray to his injured finger on Day 3 without the umpires’ permission.
It comes after Australia was fined 80 percent of their match expenses last week for slow over rates in their WTC final victory over India.
The teams bowled a total of 82 overs on day one and 90 overs on day two, but only 32.4 overs on day three due to rain. On the fourth day, 86.5 overs were delivered before Cummins scored the winning runs on the final day in the 63rd over with four balls remaining.