Khawaja expresses anger as Australia loses WTC points due to slow over-rate.

Australian opener Usman Khawaja expressed his frustration after the team lost 10 World Test Championship (WTC) points for a slow over-rate during the drawn Ashes series in England. As an Australian Cricketers’ Association board member, Khawaja had lobbied the International Cricket Council (ICC), which recently softened penalties for this offense.

Australia retained the Ashes urn in the five-match series, but they lost more than a third of the 28 points they originally won due to being 10 overs short in the fourth Test at Old Trafford. Khawaja voiced his dissatisfaction on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, saying, “Don’t even get the chance to bowl in the second innings at Manchester due to 2 days of rain and @ICC still issue fines and take 10 WTC points off us for slow over rates! That makes a lot of sense…” The 36-year-old was the leading scorer in the captivating series.

As a result of the deduction, reigning world champions Australia now stand third in the WTC points table, trailing behind Pakistan and India. England, on the other hand, suffered a harsher penalty, with a staggering 19 WTC points fine for slow over-rates in four of the five matches.

During the series, spin played a limited role, particularly after Australia’s Nathan Lyon sustained an injury in the second match, leading to over-rate delays. Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting placed the responsibility on umpires to expedite play by getting players ready for action without wasting time.

“We’ve got to find a way not to be losing so much time in these games,” Ponting said during the ICC Review.

Conversely, former England captain Nasser Hussain believed slow over-rate penalties should be harsher as it affected paying fans who expected to see the full 90 overs of action.

“Tickets, especially in England, are very expensive. So you want to get the full day,” Hussain explained. “Now some people argue, well, you’re getting the entertainment anyway. But I do think, if you pay for 90 overs, you should expect 90 overs.”