England lose 19 WTC points and Australia ten for slow over-rates during the Ashes

Speaking before the final Ashes Test, Pat Cummins had said, “This series has been a bit of an outlier I think. We haven’t had any over-rate sanctions over the last few years until this series. It feels like this one has been played at a different pace. It’s something we need to speak about in ODI cricket as well, when you’re setting fields the time can run out pretty quickly.”It feels like there’s different plans every second over, or every over, every couple of balls. One batter might have a totally different plan to another one. So there’s lots of field movement. [There is] a lot more fast-bowling overs than there ever has been. No Nathan Lyon [from the third Ashes Test onwards]. A combination of those things.”This series is maybe that little bit higher-pressure, and it’s not only the fielding side but you see the batters taking that little bit of extra time.”In a series where rain was an almost constant presence, there weren’t a lot of overs from spin bowlers, which could have been a reason for the slow over-rates. For England, Moeen Ali and Joe Root, their main spin options, bowled a total of 179.1 overs. Stuart Broad alone bowled more than that: 184.2. For Australia, Nathan Lyon bowled 66 overs in the first two Tests before going out with an injury, and Todd Murphy, who played the last two Tests, bowled 38.2 overs. That’s a total of 104.2. Pat Cummins (158.4), Mitchell Starc (128.1) and Josh Hazlewood (111) all bowled more overs, Starc and Hazlewood in just four appearances each.ESPNcricinfo LtdFormer Australia captain Ricky Ponting placed the onus on the match officials to keep up the pace of play. “I think the umpires need to start just getting the players around more,” he said on the , “Getting them ready, getting them organised, making sure the batter’s ready to face up, making sure the bowler is at the end of his mark when the batsman gets back to his crease. We’ve got to find a way not to be losing so much time in these games.”I know the cricket [in the Ashes] has been ultra entertaining. Crowds are not going to be whinging about what they have seen as far as the cricket’s concerned, but when you go to a day’s play and you expect 90 overs, but you see 80, you have got to be a little bit disappointed.”I mean at the World Test Championship final, by the evening session on day three, one whole session of play had been lost. Two hours of play have been lost over three days and I just don’t know where it goes and I’m not sure what the right punishment is.”I honestly don’t know what the answer is but if a team, like Australia did last time, if they miss out on playing in the World Test Championship final just because of a few overs here and there then it is a pretty harsh penalty.”Former England captain Nasser Hussain, on the other hand, was fully in favour of stringent penalties for slow-over rates. “I do think the ICC should continue to be strong with teams,” he said before adding that players shouldn’t break for lunch or tea until the overs they are meant to bowl are bowled. “Now what that will do is make players get through the day quicker, earlier, because the last thing you want is a three-and-a-half hour last session. The seamers in particular aren’t going to be overly thrilled if they have to bowl three and a half hours at the end, so umpires need to be stronger with players.”