Australian opener Usman Khawaja has expressed his disappointment over International Cricket Council (ICC) imposing penalties on arch-rivals Australia and England for maintaining a slow overrate during the Ashes 2023 series.
Khawaja in his Twitter post pointed out that Australia did not even get to bowl to England and set them a target to chase as rain on the final two days washed away any chances of action. Day four saw the Tea and final session being washed out at Manchester as Australia trailed by 61 runs and England needed five wickets to level the series. The rain made it impossible for any action to take place on the final day. England won the final Test to draw the series, denying Australia their first outright Ashes win in England since 2001.
"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 of us for slow over rates! That makes a lot of sense...," tweeted Khawaja.
Notably, Khawaja had raised his voice against the slow over-rate penalties after both the sides received a 40 per cent cut in match fee and lost two WTC points after the first Test at Edgbaston.
"It is just really frustrating as a player, you are giving it your all out there, providing entertainment, then you are getting stung for it. I was pretty frustrated with what was happening, I just thought someone has to find a way to speak to the ICC about it. We had played three games and they had been three really good games with results, [providing] entertainment and we were getting fined.... It is a lot of money," Khawaja had said ahead of fourth Test at Manchesther, according to ICC.
"Wasim (ICC's general manager of cricket) was really good. We talked and he took the feedback. To his credit, it was not just listening and no action. Actions happened within one or two weeks. We are trying to go as fast as we can. It is the conditions that make it hard for us. If you are in India, we are never behind the over-rate with two spinners going at it. We were getting results, that's what was frustrating. Think England was frustrated with it, too.
"I am still pushing for, if you get a result in the game before tea on the last day, you should not get a fine. You have got what you wanted. It is cricket. You have got laws and rules. They have been there for a very long time. Sometimes you just have to look back on them and see if you need an update a little bit."
