ICC Punishes England For Oval Test Breach (Source: AFP Photos)
Nothing seems to be going in favour of England cricket lately, whether it is on the field or off the field.
Since winning the Lord’s Test against New Zealand in a commanding manner, their regular captain Ben Stokes and Gus Atkinson were suspended from the second Test between the two sides after an infamous nightclub incident. England lost the match as well, that too by 253 runs.
Now, the International Cricket Council (ICC) made their lives even worse. Nevertheless, it was England that failed to uphold the rules and regulations the ICC had set, and paid the price.
Slow Over Rate Takes 12 WTC Points Away From England
England were 12 overs short of the target during the Oval Test. Thus, ICC match referee Andy Pycroft, who was in charge of the 2nd Test between England and New Zealand, had no choice but to add more salt to the wound.
The charges against England were made by on-field umpires Adrian Holdstock and Nitin Menon, third umpire Rod Tucker and fourth umpire Graham Lloyd.
Fresh after a humiliating 253-run defeat, the ICC had to dock 12 World Test Championship (WTC) points from England’s account. They now have 38 points from 12 matches, only above Pakistan and the West Indies on the nine-team WTC table.
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Even though England’s position on the WTC table did not impact much for the ICC punishment after the Oval Test, their Points Percentages significantly dropped from 34.72 to 26.38.
Moreover, England have also been fined 50 per cent of their match fees.
"Under Article 2.22 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which deals with minimum over-rate offences, players are fined five per cent of their match fee for every over their side fails to bowl within the allotted time," the ICC statement read.
"As per Article 16.11.2 of the World Test Championship playing conditions, teams lose one championship point for each over short, resulting in England being docked 12 crucial points in the WTC standings," it added.
England To Have Ben Stokes Back In The Series Decider
The only good news at this point for England is that they will have Ben Stokes back at the helm when the series decider against New Zealand takes place from June 25 onwards at Trent Bridge.
England have already announced the squad for the third Test against New Zealand, in which Stokes and Atkinson have both been included.
Meanwhile, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) recently requested that Durham let Ben Stokes withdraw from a County Championship match while the match was ongoing.
Keeping in mind that the third Test match between England and New Zealand will begin in 72 hours or so, the ECB decided to manage his workload.
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