'Na khaya na piya gilas toda 12 aana' - Fans react as England and Australia lose WTC points for slow-over rate during Ashes 2023

England and Australia put on a great show of Test cricket during the recently concluded Ashes of 2023. Both teams fought head-to-head to bring the prestigious trophy home, and the results reflected that. The series ended in a draw as England beat Australia by 49 runs in the fifth game at The Oval on Monday.

However, in a shocking turn of events, both England and Australia were fined heavily by the Apex Cricket Council for maintaining a slow over-rate during the series. According to the Apex Cricket Council, England failed to achieve Target overs in four out of five games. It includes two overs short at Edgbaston, nine at Lord's, three at Old Trafford, and five at The Oval. On the other hand, Australia managed well in four Tests but was ten overs short at Old Trafford.

As a result, England earned just nine World Test Championship (WTC) points despite winning two games, while Australia secured 18 points (24 for two wins and four for one draw, minus ten for penalties). This placed Australia at No. 3 on the WTC table with 30 percentage points, trailing behind Pakistan (100) and India (66.67). England, with 15 points and a 16.67 percentage, stood at No. 5, below the West Indies.

Apart from WTC points, both teams also faced deductions in match fees. Australia received a 50% penalty (for ten overs) for the Old Trafford Test, while England faced fines of 10%, 45%, 15%, and 25% for the four Tests in which they fell short, respectively. This decision from the Apex Cricket Council has created a buzz on social media as fans and some cricketers find it unfair because the fourth Test match was interrupted by rain.

How Will Australia and England qualify for the WTC finals?

The penalties have added complexity to both teams' paths towards the WTC final. India secured their spot in the final by finishing second on the 2021–23 WTC table, winning 58.8% of the points they contested. Looking ahead to the 2025 final, a rough target of a 60% qualification rate is considered. For England to reach this mark, they would require 151 more points from their remaining 16 Tests. This translates to approximately 11 wins and three draws, or simply 12 wins (while avoiding any further point penalties).

On the other hand, Australia needs 137 points from their remaining 14 Tests to achieve the approximate 60% qualification rate. This could be accomplished with 10 wins, nine wins and three draws, or even eight wins and six draws. However, it has now become very difficult for England to qualify for the WTC finals given these circumstances.

Here is how fans react to the Apex Cricket Council's decision:

This is very bad rule, In Asia teams will never face this overrate issue because of spin dominance we know spinner can bowl even more than 90 overs in a day, But in overseas SENA countries this will remain huge issue as pacers dominates more in these countries it will huge task…

— Lubana Warriors (@LovepreetS49) August 2, 2023

@ICC your embarrassing.

— M. (@messialltime) August 2, 2023

Icc should fine themselves 🤡🤡🤡
Such an entertaining series and they lose points.
Icc wants teams to play boring long games🤡

— Not_Required (@Expart_25) August 2, 2023

It's going to huge impact for the both teams when you go forward
The same way aus lost the place in final 2021 icc test cycle due to slow over rate 😑

— salute❤️ (@super_908_) August 2, 2023

Any idea how massively does that impact them ?

— Rajdeep Singh (@travisheadera) August 2, 2023

But they showed us the best of Test cricket, which the Indian team does not show. Indian Team only earn points by playing with weak teams.

— जाट जी⚒️ (@00_butcher) August 2, 2023

Ashes Team 2023
Zak Crawley
Usman Khawaja
Ben Stokes
Steve Smith
Travis Head
Moeen Ali
Jonny Bairstow
Chris Woakes
Pat Cummins
Mitchell Starc
Stuart Broad

SORRY MARK WOOD

— Sports syncs (@moiz_sports) August 2, 2023

ICC should not deduct points for slow over rates 😞

— Ayush Anand (@crictopher014) August 2, 2023

1) advantage to spin friendly nations
2) test cricket is traditionally slow and not adaptable
3) Umpires responsible for some of it
4) Batting side also has incentive to slow game.
5) cricketers like Smith and Warner change gloves and have a drink every 2 overs.

— G (@GG___2021) August 2, 2023

Both England and Australia are done for this WTC. South Africa,India almost there to play the WTC finals

— Salfee (@Salfee12) August 2, 2023

If the #WTCFinals are decided based on win percent then deducting points is meaningless. It is similar to captain losing match fees. They won't care.

— Raj Balasubramanian (@raj_221173) August 2, 2023

Nah man, that's a hefty points deduction. Surely they should look into the thresholds.

— Versatile Uncle (@uncle_pritch) August 2, 2023

India also lost many points due to slow over rate in previous cycles

— CRICKET Lover (@onlycricketlove) August 2, 2023

I think this rule should be changed
Slow Over-Rate penalty should only apply on drawn tests as if the match is giving result why should cut your points.@ICC take notice

— FT Fan (@hanan_khan3) August 2, 2023

England earned 24 points for the 2 test matches they won in the Ashes and lost 19 of those due to their abysmal over-rate throughout the series.

Maximum run-rate, minimum over-rate.

— Zucker Doctor (@DoctorLFC) August 2, 2023