An Australian journalist has branded Ben Stokes and his England team “complainers of the highest order” after the Three Lions all-rounder became caught in a bitter dispute with the ICC.
The England captain took aim at the governing body’s decision to penalize both his team and New Zealand for speeding during their first Test in Christchurch last week.
Stokes admitted he was baffled by the sanctions, which saw both England and New Zealand lose three World Test Championship (WTC) points following the tourist’s eight-wicket win.
They had fallen behind the ICC’s scheduled pace of 15 overs per hour during the match, but Stokes argued that they had managed to finish the game 10 hours early.
The punishment left New Zealand in fifth place in the WTC table, with England below them in sixth place. Both teams also had 15 per cent deducted from their match fees, with England players set to lose A$4,445 (£2,250).
Stokes took to social media to issue a sarcastic response to the ICC sanctions, writing on Instagram: ‘Good for you ICC. I finished the match when there were still 10 hours of play left.
Ben Stokes (right) has become embroiled in a dispute with the ICC over the organisation’s punishments for slow rates
England claimed an eight-wicket win in their first Test against New Zealand last week.
Stokes issued a sarcastic comment on his Instagram story attacking the ICC earlier this week.
He later explained his outrage at the punishment before the second Test in Wellington.
“The most frustrating thing, from both teams’ point of view, is that the game ended early; there was a result,” Stokes said.
But the frustration goes back to the Ashes. It has been over a year since I made some comments about excessive fees to the match referee and umpires, and to this day we have still not heard any response from the ICC.
He added: ‘Captains have to sign surcharge sheets and fines and things like that, but I have said (I won’t sign) until I have the conversation. But they still take away the fines.
In response to Stokes’ comments, Australian journalist Tom Morris claimed that England must stop complaining about the punishment, before making a scathing reference to England’s low position in the WTC standings.
“I don’t understand why Test cricket, of all formats, has the slowest over-rate, given that lower levels of the game (shield cricket, grade cricket) with fewer resources have a reasonable over-rate,” Morris said, while He addressed the issue with Bharat Sundaresan on an Australian radio station. SEN Cricket.
But both sides were penalized 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 “whiners of the highest order”
‘Are we going to get the ICC to take this seriously?’ he added. ‘Are we going to get the players to take this seriously? Because it seems that Ben Stokes doesn’t quite understand the situation.
Morris admitted he was growing tired of the narrative about slowing rates, and also pointed out how the all-rounder had raised concerns with the ICC over his 19-point deduction for excessively slow rates during the 2023 Ashes.
‘Ninety overs in six and a half hours is not a lot to ask for. 26, 27 overs per session, 14 overs per hour, it’s not a lot to ask for,” he added.
“I love watching this England team play, but they are becoming crybabies of the highest order.
‘In the beginning, it was the Moral Ashes. More recently, it is assumed that Ben Stokes does not really understand the World Test Championship table and therefore does not care much; that’s easy to say when you’re sixth in the table.
‘And now the rates are excessive. What are you doing England? If you play cricket so well, stop complaining about things outside the game and do it well.
“Give the fans who pay to watch 90 overs of cricket and Australia should do the same.”
Stokes joined his team’s defense, before offering a solution to the problem, stating that teams should play longer if they are behind on their overrating and the light is still good.
“I really like changing things up and the pitch can be completely different for six balls in an over,” he said. “Being told to hurry up is not the way to solve it. It needs to be discussed.
‘We are not deliberately launching excessive speeds slower than the rules say. It doesn’t get dark here until 10 o’clock, or 10:30 in England. Why not make it so that you can bowl your overs if there is enough light?
England star Brydon Carse took 10 wickets in both innings for the tourists in an impressive performance.
Harry Brook came close to reaching a double century in the first innings being caught by Tom Blundell for 171 runs.
‘Captains have to sign overrating sheets and fines and stuff, but I’ve said no until I have the conversation. But they still take away the fines.
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 anymore. Because Ben Stokes, I remember in the Ashes last year, the overs were atrocious and there were reports that he looked at the umpire and said, “Look at the crowd. Look how entertained they are. What does it matter?”
“Now they’ve come out and said they’re done with a day to spare, but that’s not how excessive fees work. People pay for the day. I’m sure not everyone sits there and says, ‘I have to see 90 overs”, but they do it and pay for it.’