England’s Test cricket captain, Ben Stokes, is making waves again! He is still refusing to sign the charge sheet from the International Cricket Council (ICC) about slow over rates. This happened after England and New Zealand were both penalized for taking too long during their first Test in Christchurch.
Both teams lost points in the World Test Championship (WTC) and faced a 15% cut in their match fee. This penalty has hurt their chances of competing in the WTC final next year at Lord’s. New Zealand dropped from fourth to sixth place in the points table, while England has lost 22 points so far in this WTC cycle, including 19 points from the recent Ashes series.
Stokes expressed his frustration, pointing out that even though the match ended quickly with a result, the slow over-rate issue seems unfair. He mentioned that the issue of over rates seems to depend on where the matches take place. For example, games in Asia don’t usually have this problem because spin bowling slows down the game.
While discussing why he has not signed the over-rate sheet since last year’s Ashes, Stokes said, “I’ve had good talks with the match referees. They understand where we, as players, are coming from. However, it’s been a year, and we haven’t heard back from the ICC regarding my concerns.”
Jacob Oram, a former New Zealand bowler and now an assistant coach for the team, agrees with Stokes. He believes that both teams need to improve their energy and ability to stay ready. He said, “Today’s Test matches are exciting with lots of runs and wickets. We need to strike a good balance and learn from these lessons.”
Leave a Reply