Usman Khawaja slams ICC for penalising Australia for slow over rate in 4th Ashes 2023 Test | ENG vs AUS

Australian batsman Usman Khawaja expressed his disappointment over the International Cricket Council's (ICC) decision to penalize both Australia and England for slow over rates during the recently concluded Ashes 2023 series.

Taking to Twitter, Khawaja shared his frustration, stating, "Don't even get the chance to bowl in the second innings at Manchester due to 2 days of rain and ICC still issue fines and take 10 WTC points of us for slow over rates! That makes a lot of sense."

Both teams, Australia and England, faced penalties, with Australia losing 10 World Test Championship (WTC) points and England getting docked 19 points for the over-rate breaches across the five-match series.

Don't even get the chance to bowl in the second innings at Manchester due to 2 days of rain and @ICC still issue fines and take 10 WTC points of us for slow over rates! That makes a lot of sense... 🤦🏾‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/NKuGI61n2n

— Usman Khawaja (@Uz_Khawaja) August 2, 2023

As per the ICC's revised regulations, both teams were fined five percent of their match fees and one WTC point for every over short.

Throughout the WTC cycle 2023-25, teams are awarded 12 points for each Test victory and four points for a draw.

The ICC specified, "England fell two overs short in the first Test at Edgbaston, nine in the second Test at Lord's, three in the fourth Test at Old Trafford, and five in the last and final Test at The Oval." Consequently, England lost two points in the opening Test, nine in the second, three in the fourth, and five in the fifth match, totaling 19 points.

The updated sanctions regarding over-rate penalties were announced during the ICC annual conference in South Africa, with immediate implementation.

In addition to the points deduction, both England and Australia were also fined for their slow over-rate errors.

"Australia received a 50 percent fine of their match fee (five percent for each over short with a maximum of 50 percent) for 10 overs in Manchester (fourth Test)," the ICC stated.

"England has been fined 10 percent for the first Test, 45 percent for the second, 15 percent for the fourth, and 25 percent for the fifth of their match fee for slow-over rate offences in the first two and the last two Tests respectively," the ICC added.

Currently, Pakistan holds the top spot in the WTC points table following their 2-0 away win against Sri Lanka, securing 24 points, with India in second place with 16 points.

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(With PTI inputs)