England and New Zealand on December 3 were docked three points each by the International Cricket Council (ICC) in the current World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 cycle for maintaining slow over rate in the Christchurch Test. England defeated New Zealand by eight wickets. The Test ended with plenty of overs to spare but the ICC deducted three points each anyway. The points deduction did not go down well with England captain Ben Stokes who expressed his frustration in an Instagram story.
"Good on ICC. Finished the game with 10 hours of play still left," Stokes wrote on Instagram.
In total, England have been docked a total of 22 points in the current WTC cycle. Had it not been for the ductions, their current win percentage is 51.66. With two wins from remaining two Tests against New Zealand, their win percentage would be 61.66. However, their current percentage is 42.50. They are placed sixth on the table.
On the other hand, New Zealand's win percentage is 47.92. The inaugural WTC winners can attain the maximum percentage of 55.35 if they beat England in the remaining matches. They will have to depend the outcome of other matches in order to qualify for the final.
As per the ICC released, both the teams were three overs short of the target after taking time allowances into account. The charges were levelled by on-field umpires Ahsan Raza and Rod Tucker, third umpire Adrian Holdstock and fourth official Kim Cotton. The sanctions were imposed by match referee David Boon. There was no need for a formal hearing as Stokes and New Zealand captain Tom Latham accepted the sanctions.
Stokes confused by WTC format
Earlier, Stokes had expressed his disappointment over the format of WTC which left him confused.
“In all honesty, the World Test Championship, it is a bit confusing, it’s one of those where, you know we don’t really look at it, I don’t look at it,” Stokes told the reporters before the first Test. “It’s one of those where over a long period of time if you’re playing really good cricket, you’re getting results that you want, you’ll end up finding yourself there in the final and in the mix."
Stokes pointed out that England have played more Tests than anyone else. He revealed that he is rarely thinking about the WTC.
“For me and this team it’s about taking it game by game, series by series and if you end up finding yourself in the position where you happen to be in that World Test Championship final, then it’s great but it’s a real weird one knowing that you’re playing for something over a long period of time.
“I can’t remember if I’ve ever even given any real time to be specifically thinking about the World Test Championship to be honest because it’s utterly confusing, we play a lot more cricket than anyone else does, that’s just what we try and focus on, you know, if we play well, we’ll be there or thereabouts but if we don’t, then we won’t be,” concluded the England captain," he further added.
The second Test will begin at Basin Reserve, Wellington on December 6.
