An Australian journalist has branded Ben Stokes and his England side ‘whingers of the highest order’ after the Three Lions all-rounder became locked in a bitter row with the ICC.
The England captain took aim at the governing body’s decision to sanction both his side and New Zealand for slow over-rates during their first Test in Christchurch last week.
Stokes admitted he was baffled by the sanctions, which saw both England and New Zealand docked three World Test Championship (WTC) points following the tourist’s eight-wicket victory.
They had fallen behind the ICC’s scheduled rate of 15 overs per hour during the match, but Stokes argued that they had managed to wrap the game up 10 hours early.
The punishment left New Zealand fifth in the WTC table, with England sitting below them in sixth. Both teams were also docked 15 per cent of their match fees, with England’s players set to lose out on A$4,445 (£2,250).
Stokes took to social media to issue a sarcastic response to the ICC’s sanctions, writing on Instagram: ‘Good on you ICC. Finished the game with 10 hours of play still left.’
Ben Stokes (right) has been embroiled in a feud with the ICC over the organisation’s punishments for slow over rates
England claimed an eight-wicket victory in their first Test against New Zealand last week
Stokes issued a sarcastic comment on his Instagram story hitting out at the ICC earlier this week
He’d later go on to elaborate on his indignation at the punishment ahead of the second Test in Wellington.
‘The most frustrating thing, from both teams’ points of view, is that the game finished early – there was a result,’ said Stokes.
‘But the frustration stems back to the Ashes. It’s been over a year now since I made some comments about the over-rates to the match referee and umpires, and to this day we’re yet to hear any response back from the ICC.’
He added: ‘Captains have to sign over-rate sheets and fines and stuff, but I have said [I will not sign] until I have the conversation. But they still take the fines off you anyway.’
In response to Stokes’ comments, Australian journalist Tom Morris has claimed England need to stop whining about the punishment, before making a scathing reference to England’s lowly position in the WTC standings.
‘I don’t understand why Test cricket, of all formats, has the slowest over-rate, given that levels below the game – Shield cricket, grade cricket – with less resources have a reasonable over-rate,’ Morris said, as he addressed the issue with Bharat Sundaresan on Aussie radio station SEN Cricket.
But both sides were sanctioned by the governing body for failing to meet their scheduled over rate of 15 overs per hour
An Australian journalist has branded Stokes and England ‘whingers of the highest order’
‘Are we going to get the ICC taking this seriously?’ he added. ‘Are we going to get players taking this seriously? Because it seems like Ben Stokes doesn’t quite get the picture.’
Morris admitted he was growing tired of the narrative around slow-over rates, also pointing to how the all-rounder had raised concerns with the ICC over their 19-point deduction for slow over-rates during the 2023 Ashes.
‘Ninty overs in six-and-a-half hours isn’t too much to ask. 26, 27 overs a session, 14 overs an hour, isn’t too much to ask,’ he added.
‘This England team, I love watching them play, but they are becoming whingers of the highest order.
‘Initially, it was the moral Ashes. More recently, it’s Ben Stokes not really understanding the World Test Championship table, allegedly, and therefore not really caring about it – that’s easy to say when you’re sixth on the table.
‘And now it’s the over-rates. What are you doing England? You play such good cricket, stop whinging about stuff on the outskirts of the game and get it right.
‘Give the fans who are paying to watch 90 overs of cricket and Australia should do the same.’
Stokes rallied to the defence of his side, before offering a solution to the problem, claiming teams should just play for longer if they are behind on their over-rate and the light is still good.
‘I like to change things quite a lot, and the field could be completely different for all six balls in an over,’ he said. ‘Getting told to hurry up isn’t the way that’s going to fix it. It needs to be discussed.
‘We’re not purposely bowling over-rates slower than the rules say. It doesn’t get dark here till 10 o’clock, or half 10 in England. Why not just make it so that you bowl your overs out if the light is sufficient?
England star Brydon Carse took 10 wickets across both innings for the tourists in an impressive performance
Harry Brook came close to hitting a double century in the first innings being caught out by Tom Blundell on 171 runs
‘Captains have to sign over-rate sheets and fines and stuff, but I have said not until I have the conversation. But they still take the fines off you anyway.’
But reflecting on England’s pace of play in last year’s Ashes, Sundaresan said he too was confused by Stokes’ comments.
Bharat Sundaresan said: ‘Most of us enjoy watching them [England] play the way they do. It was a good Test match.
He added: ‘But then they start talking about the way they play cricket and it’s reaching annoying levels.
‘It doesn’t make sense any more. Because Ben Stokes, I remember in the Ashes last year, the over-rates were atrocious and there were reports that he looked at the umpire and said: “Look at the crowd. Look how entertained they are. How does it matter.”
‘Now he’s come out and said they’ve finished with a day to spare, but that’s not how over-rates work though. People pay for the day. I’m sure not everybody sits there and says: “I have to watch 90 overs,” but they do, they pay for it.’
