James Anderson and the rest of the England players were penalized under the new rules because the Australian batsmen lasted longer than the crease Credit: Popperfoto/Philip Brown
England's quick result saw them tally half as many World Test Championship points as Australia from the Ashes, despite a 2-2 draw in the series.
Early on their hopes of reaching the final of the World Testing Championship were dashed for the first time, with England penalized 19 of the 28 points they had earned in the series for slowly topping the rankings.
Australia lost only 10 points despite maintaining an icy pace of play. This is because, in line with changes to penalties for bad overbets, agreed this month by the governing body's leaders at the International Cricket Council meeting in Durban, penalties only take effect after 80 overs (previously 60) in an inning, or 160 overs. for two innings in the match.
England batted nine times in the series and reached 80 overs only three times (and never batted 160 overs in a match). In contrast, Australia batted 10 times, reaching 80 overs seven times (one of the remaining three was in Manchester, where rain prevented a natural finish).
In a very tight series, both teams scored the same number of runs (the difference in victory was two wickets, 43 runs, three wickets and 49 runs), but the different speed at which they scored resulted in England being punished more severely. In fact, England's “basball” approach saved Australia from fines.
This follows this month's penalty change, which moved the penalties from penalizing players for their match fees to WTC penalties to make Test cricket more attractive to them. However, the discrepancy in anchored scores for the great series of Ashes has shed light on the unintended consequences.
Australia was originally penalized and penalized WTC points for the first Test at Edgbaston, but a rule change allowed them to get away with that game because England did not return 80 overs in an innings or 160 in a match. They also escaped punishment in the final test of Lord and Oval for the same reasons. England were penalized in all three matches, but both teams escaped at Headingley, where none of the four innings lasted 80 overs.
Khawaja lobbied to change penalties
In a strange quirk, Australian batsman Usman Khawaja lobbied. The ICC changed the penalties after two Tests of this series, which they did. Khawaja contacted ICC General Manager Wasim Khan, whom Khawaja met when the Brit was the Pakistan Cricket Board's CEO, and convinced him not to penalize players too much. Changes followed quickly, and Khawaja celebrated it.
“I appreciate that the ICC is really listening to the players,” Khawaja said ahead of the Manchester Test. “I was very upset by what was happening. I just thought someone should find a way to talk to the ICC about this. We played three games and they were three really good games with results and entertainment.
“And we were fined 80 percent of the match fee. That's a lot of money. It's just really frustrating as a player, you go all out, have fun, and then get stung for it.
“Vasim accepted the feedback. [Captain] Pat Cummins and [coach] Andrew McDonald talked to him and to his credit, it wasn't just hearings and no action. The action took place within one to two weeks. They returned to us, there was a small compromise. We're trying to move as fast as we can.”
But after Australia was penalized for their ridiculously high stake at Old Trafford, Khawaja was again unhappy. He tweeted: “I don't even get a chance to bowl in the second inning in Manchester due to 2 days of rain and the ICC is still issuing tickets and charging us 10 WTC points for low stakes! It makes a lot of sense… [face emoji].”
The ICC will likely come under increasing pressure to have their cricket committee reconsider World Testing Championship penalties as they hope to strike a balance between popularizing recreational cricket (in England, for example) and punishing players who lose their overs too long.
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