Australia were fined 40% of their match fees for the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston and were set for heavier penalties for the Lord’s Test too. The Pat Cummins-led unit lost some World Test Championship points in the series opener and were set to lose more after the Lord’s Test.
The unprecedented mid-series over-rate penalty rule-change, however, comes as a relief to the Aussies who are set to financially benefit from the decision taken at the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) annual conference in Durban last week.
The Chief Executive Committee (CEC) of the global cricketing body agreed to the amendment and it was decided that it would be “applied from the start of the current World Test Championship cycle”.
Also Read | ICC Decision to Change Slow Over-rate Rule a Well-thought Decision or Friendly Favour?
Confusion, however, still persisted on what would happen to the fines and penalty points for the first three Ashes Tests. News18 CricketNext reached out to the ICC on the matter and got a clarification that “fines and penalty points will not be universally waived off”.
“Fines and penalty points will not be universally waived from the first three Test matches, instead they will be re-calculated and the appropriate sanctions will be applied in line with the agreed changes to the revised threshold. It is important to note that if teams are found guilty of breaching the overrate requirements, WTC penalty points will apply, as will reduced player fines,” ICC spokesperson told News18 CricketNext.
Why didn’t the ICC wait for the series to get over? The spokesperson added that the global body didn’t want to wait and wanted to take action “immediately after debate and discussion”.
“As the Ashes series is the first in the new WTC cycle, it was decided to take action immediately after debate and discussion at the ICC Men’s Cricket Committee and the ICC Chief Executives’ Committee,” added the source.
The ICC Men’s Cricket Committee is chaired by former India captain Sourav Ganguly and also has the likes of VVS Laxman and Mahela Jayawardene on the board. News18 CricketNext reached out to Ganguly for a comment on the over-rate penalty but yet to get a response.
CricketNext extensively wrote on how the existing penalties were revised after Australia cricketer Usman Khawaja, captain Pat Cummins and coach Andrew McDonald reached out to ICC General Manager Wasim Khan. Khawaja and McDonald enjoy a good rapport with Khan, who has served as PCB CEO and chief executive at Leicestershire in the past.
The rushed move has raised plenty of eyebrows and sources close to developments feel it could have been phased in a much systematic manner.
“What was the hurry? To do it in the middle of the series? This could have been done in a better manner. No one is saying what happened is wrong. It’s a step in the right direction but that step could have been timed much better,” said the source.
Comments
0 comment