England captain Ben Stokes has responded to his side's World Test Championship (WTC) points deduction after they were docked three points for their sluggish over rate across the recently concluded Test at Christchurch.
England were handsome victors in the series opener, beating New Zealand by eight wickets thanks to a 10-wicket match haul from Brydon Carse and a first innings century from Harry Brook.
Both teams, though, have since been docked three WTC points for maintaining slow over rates across the Test. The press release confirming the points deduction read: "David Boon of the Emirates ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees imposed the sanctions after both Ben Stokes and Tom Latham’s sides were ruled to be three overs short of the target after time allowances were taken into consideration."
Officially, Stokes and Latham both pleaded guilty and accepted the sanctions.
Responding to the news on Instagram, though, Stokes wrote, "Good on you ICC", followed by three 'shrug' emojis and another line saying, "[We] finished the game with 10 hours of play still left." The conclusion of the Christchurch Test took place on the afternoon session of day four.
While this is New Zealand's first such penalty in the current World Test Championship cycle, England are no strangers to incurring sanctions for slow over rates.
Stokes' side were docked a whopping 19 points for their over rates in the 2023 Ashes series. Had England not incurred any over rate penalties at all during the current WTC cycle, they would still not have qualified for the showpiece event at Lord's next summer but they would have been in serious contention for much of 2024.
As per the WTC playing conditions, a team can only be docked points for slow over rates if an innings lasts more than 80 overs. Comparisons have been made to the over rates maintained across the first Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test at Perth where five fewer overs were bowled across the first two days than in Christchurch. Crucially, though, the first two innings of the Test each lasted fewer than 80 overs meaning that it was not possible for either Australia or India to incur a penalty.
Stokes has an at best indifferent relationship with the World Test Championship. His pre-series comments about the competition being "utterly confusing" prompted some criticism from outside the UK. England have never qualified – nor come close to qualifying – for any of the first three editions of the competition.
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