England captain Ben Stokes has voiced his discontent with the ICC’s ruling after his team was penalized for a slow over-rate in the third Test against India at Lord’s. Despite England securing a commanding win in the match, the ICC’s sanctions cost them crucial World Test Championship points, dropping them in the rankings.
Stokes didn’t shy away from calling for reform in how over-rate penalties are enforced, suggesting that geographical conditions should be considered before imposing fines or docking points.
“𝑶𝒗𝒆𝒓-𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒊𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑰 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒚 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕’𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒔𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑰 𝒑𝒖𝒓𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏,” 𝑺𝒕𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒀𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒓𝒆 𝑷𝒐𝒔𝒕.
“𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒂 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒅.”
He argued that applying the same rules across different continents doesn’t make sense, especially when spin dominates in Asia and pace prevails in places like England, Australia, or New Zealand.
Cricket Is More Than a Clock: Stokes on Over-Rates and Match Quality
According to Stokes, focusing too much on over-rates can take away from the strategy and spirit of the game. He emphasized that captains shouldn’t be forced to bowl spin solely to meet rate requirements, particularly when seam is the tactical choice in certain conditions.
“𝒀𝒐𝒖’𝒓𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒈𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖’𝒓𝒆 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒓𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓-𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒅.
“𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕.”
Stokes’ remarks highlight the growing frustration among players and captains regarding the rigid penalty system that doesn’t take game context or conditions into account.
England Announce Squad for 4th Test at Old Trafford
The fourth Test of the 2025 Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy kicks off on July 23 at Old Trafford, Manchester. England has announced one change to their lineup: Liam Dawson comes in for the injured Shoaib Bashir. The inclusion of Dawson, a left-arm spinning all-rounder, is expected to add depth to England’s bowling attack.
England Playing XI for the 4th Test vs India
- Zak Crawley
- Ben Duckett
- Ollie Pope
- Joe Root
- Harry Brook
- Ben Stokes (C)
- Jamie Smith (WK)
- Liam Dawson
- Chris Woakes
- Brydon Carse
- Jofra Archer
Also Read: ENG vs IND 2025: Sanjay Bangar Believes Rishabh Pant Adds Crucial Stability to India’s XI