Photo Credit: Instagram Photo of @stokesy
Ben Stokes has criticized the International Cricket Council (ICC) following England‘s deduction of World Test Championship (WTC) points for slow over-rate violations. England received a 15% match fee reduction and lost three WTC points during their recent victory over New Zealand in Christchurch, adding to a prior 19-point penalty from the 2023 Ashes series.
Stokes responded on Instagram with a sarcastic remark aimed at the ICC, noting that the match finished with 10 hours of play remaining. He also expressed his frustration over a lack of response from the ICC after raising concerns with match referee Andy Pycroft following the Lord’s Test against Australia 18 months ago. Refusing to sign the over-rate acknowledgment sheet, Stokes described this as a symbolic protest.
“It’s been over a year now since I made some comments around the over-rates and still to this day we’re yet to hear any response back from anyone at the ICC around that,” he said.
“From a players’ point of view I’m not the only one who shares this opinion, that we would like to have a lot more communication with the ICC around this.
“I’ve not signed an over-rate sheet since Lord’s in the Ashes, just until we hear some communication back from the ICC that we’re still waiting for. It needs to be discussed I think, from the ICC to the captains of all the teams. It’s been over a year and we’ve had no communication whatsoever.
“When you’re having results in games and you know teams are losing out on points, getting fined and stuff like that, it’s not working at the moment.”
Stokes also addressed the need for flexibility in over-rate regulations based on varying conditions: “There needs to be some consideration around how over-rates are going to differ,” he remarked.
“Obviously you get way more seam bowled in England, Australia, New Zealand than when you go to Asia, where it’s a lot more spin and there’s never going to be an issue.”
He highlighted the difficulties captains face during matches: “It’s so hard to find where you can get any of this time back when you’re out there in the middle. For me as a captain, I like to change things quite a lot and the field could be completely different six balls in an over but that’s not taken into consideration.
“Getting told to just hurry up isn’t going to fix it. We’re out there playing a game and cricket’s a game of skill but there’s also a lot of tactics that go into and that can take time.”
England currently ranks sixth on the WTC table after forfeiting 22 of their 124 points. Stokes criticized the competition’s format, calling it “utterly confusing,” and noted that England has played 20 matches in the qualifying cycle compared to South Africa’s nine.
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Name of Author: Cricexec Staff
