England and Australia set to receive penalties for slow-over rate during first Test of Ashes 2023

England and Australia (Source: Twitter)

After a thrilling finale of the Ashes Test at Edgbaston in Birmingham, which the visitors won by two wickets, the apex governing body on Wednesday slapped severe punishments on England and Australia. Players from both teams were penalized 40% of their match costs, in addition to a deduction of two points from each team's World Test Championship (WTC) score. 

Match referee Andy Pycroft determined that both teams had fallen short of the allotted time. There was no demand for official hearings because England's Ben Stokes and Australia's Pat Cummins agreed to the punishments. 

Australia Emerges as WTC23 Champions Despite Penalties

Australia suffers a two-point loss in the World Test Championship due to the sanctions, giving Cummins' team 10 points after the first Test of the current cycle (a team receives 12 points for a victory).

With the deduction of two points, England's 2023–25 World Test Championship cycle score plummeted to -2, positioning them below all eight competitors. Earlier in the month, Cummins' Australia emerged victorious against India at The Oval, securing the WTC'23 Championship. The ongoing Ashes series marks the first of six contests to determine Australia's qualification prospects for the subsequent WTC Final, scheduled for June 2025 at Lord's in London.

In the World Test Championship 2023 final, Australia and India faced penalties for their slow over rates. Players were penalized 20% of their match fee for each over exceeding the permitted time, as per Article 2.22 of the cricket governing body's Code of Conduct.

Additionally, teams are docked one point for each over that falls short according to Article 16.11.2, which governs the World Test Championship playing criteria. As a result, two World Test Championship points will be removed from each team's final score.