England penalized heavily by ICC following the first Test; Head fined too

England was inflicted further misery following their embarrassing defeat to Australia in the first Ashes Test as they were fined 100% of their match fees for their slow over-rate. The Englishmen have also docked five points from the WTC competition for the offense. 

After the match, the ICC announced that the visitors were deducted one point for every over short that they bowled in the first Test of the ongoing Ashes series. 

“As per Article 16.11.2 of the ICC World Test Championship playing conditions, a team is docked one point for each over short. Match referee David Boon has also penalized England 100% of their match fee for falling five overs short of the targets after adjusting for time allowances. Article 2.22 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel charges players 20% of their match fee for every over the team falls short on,” said the report. 

The penalty was imposed by match referee David Boon, after it was found that the English bowled much slower than the required over rate. The visitors had been penalized earlier this year for a slow over-rate as well in the first Test against India at Trent Bridge, where they were fined 40% of their match fees. 

The Player of the match from the first Test, Travis Head, was also fined for the obscene language he used while batting. The swashbuckling left-hander’s curse word was caught on the stump mic, which he shouted after missing a ball delivered by Ben Stokes in the first innings. 

The left-hander has been fined 15% of his match fee, while also receiving one demerit point. The sanctions laid upon him by the match referee have been accepted by the Australian. 

Head played a crucial counter-attacking knock in the first Ashes Test, taking the game away from the visitors. The 27-year-old’s 152 in the first innings helped guide the hosts to a strong total of 425 in Brisbane. England had been knocked over for a meager total of 147 in the first innings, and while they bettered their performance in the second innings, scoring 297, the Aussies had to chase just 20 runs, which they did in no time. 

The side’s next travel to Adelaide to play the second Test, followed by games in Melbourne and Sydney. Cricket Australia announced this week that the fifth and final Test of the Ashes will take place at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart – the first time that an Ashes match will take place at the venue. The fifth Test was moved from the original venue, Perth, due to the strict 14-day quarantine rules in the state.