The England Test skipper took to his Instagram story and expressed his opinion.
England and New Zealand were recently dealt a blow in their World Test Championship (WTC) points tally after being docked 3 points each by the ICC for slow over-rate in the recent NZ vs ENG 1st Test in Christchurch.
Although both England and New Zealand skippers Ben Stokes and Tom Latham accepted the sanction, Stokes expressed his displeasure not too long afterwards in an Instagram story.
Ben Stokes wrote, “Good on you ICC. Finished the game with 10 hours of play still left.”
Stokes also claimed that he hadn’t signed any post-match paperwork since the Ashes 2023 as a protest against the International Cricket Council (ICC) over the fines issued by the world body on slow over rates.
Stokes said, “I’ve not signed an over-rate sheet since Lord’s in the Ashes. I won’t until we hear some communication back from the ICC. We’re still waiting for that. But they still take the fines off you anyway.”
The three-point penalty has pushed the Black Caps down to fifth place in the standings, trailing behind Sri Lanka, Australia, South Africa, and India. This development benefits India, who tops the table with a points percentage (PCT) of 61.11.
New Zealand’s PCT now stands at 47.92 and will need to win their remaining two matches against England, which will take their tally to a maximum of 55.36. Not only that, the Kiwis will then have to depend on various other results going in their favour to qualify for the 2025 final at Lord’s.
England, on the other hand, are out of contention with a PCT of 42.5.
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Speaking about Stokes, he can be penalised under Code 2.7 of the ICC Code of Conduct.
Code 2.7 states, “Public criticism of, or inappropriate comment in relation to an incident occurring in an International Match or any Player, Player Support Personnel, Match Official or team participating in any International Match, irrespective of when such criticism or inappropriate comment is made.”
Thus, a breach of Code 2.7 is classified as either a Level 1 or Level 2 offence and penalties may include a fine of up to 50% of the match fee and the addition of two demerit points. In the case of Level 2 offences, the punishments can escalate to four demerit points, 100% match fee, and two suspension points.
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