England Test captain Ben Stokes has called for a change to the current over rate regulations, arguing that they unfairly penalise teams relying heavily on pace bowlers in seam-friendly conditions.
Last week, England were docked two World Test Championship points and fined 10% of their match fees for a slow over rate during the third Test against India at Lord’s.
Ahead of the fourth Test in Manchester starting Wednesday, Stokes said the rules should be adjusted according to the playing conditions in different continents.
“You can’t have the same rules in Asia, where spinners bowl around 70% of the overs, as in New Zealand, Australia or England, where seamers bowl 70-80%,” Stokes told reporters. “Spinner’s overs take less time than seamers’. So, common sense suggests that over rate timings should vary depending on the conditions.”
This is not the first time Stokes has raised concerns about the over rate rules. Last year, he urged the International Cricket Council (ICC) to review the regulations after England and New Zealand were penalised following their first Test in Christchurch.
England have lost 22 points in the previous World Test Championship cycle due to over rate violations.
“Over rate isn’t something I constantly worry about, and I’m certainly not deliberately slowing things down,” Stokes added. “But I do understand the frustration around it, and honestly, I think the whole system needs a serious review.”
The England skipper also highlighted the impact of spinner Shoaib Bashir’s injury during the Lord’s Test, which forced the team to rely more heavily on pace bowling.
“We played five days, that was our 15th day of cricket in a row. We had an injury to Bash (Bashir), our spinner, so we couldn’t use him as much as we would have liked on day five,” Stokes explained. “I also wonder if scoring rates have something to do with it — the ball is reaching the boundary more often, so it naturally takes longer.”
England currently lead the five-match Test series against India 2-1.