AUSTRALIA face a major penalty in the second Ashes Test if they fail to bowl England out within the opening six overs of day two.
The hosts in the opening Test Down Under.
Australia face a penalty if they do not bowl England out within the opening six overs tomorrowCredit: EPA
The Second Test is in the balance after Joe Root’s brilliant centuryCredit: Getty
But the second Test is in the balance after a outshone Mitchell Starc’s men.
The end of day one did see some controversy though.
captain Steve Smith decide to run down the clock so his side wouldn’t have to face a fresh ball as night drew in.
It saw ex-England ace Steven Finn hit out at Smith while commentating on TNT Sports.
He said: “There’s certainly a chance here that Steve Smith took a long time to set the field there, and he’s ended up with everyone on the boundary. He’s now changing the field between balls, certainly, strikes me that this is a good time for Australia to be delaying things.
“Means that if this last wicket does fall, each minute that goes by, it’s a minute that England won’t have that bright pink ball in their hand in these conditions. The evening session, far harder to bat, especially when you’re new to the crease.”
Finn went on the rampage again when Smith tried for a second time to waste precious minutes.
He added: “And Smith just delaying things again. Definitely a tactic here, and the umpires should have a word with him. Every second that ticks by, Australia will have fewer seconds to bat this evening.
“Carey is now slowly taking his cap off and meandering up to the stumps. It really is obvious. Fielder’s being moved 3 yards to the left, 3 yards to the right. Field all spread.”
However, Smith’s time-wasting antics could come back to bite him.
According to ICC law, “if the fielding team bowls out the batting team in 80 overs or less in any particular innings and the Minimum Over Rate requirement for that innings has not been exceeded (taking into account all of the time allowances described above), no account shall be taken of the actual over rate in that innings when calculating the actual over rate at the end of such Match.”
It means that should Australia not bowl England out within the opening six overs tomorrow, their innings will come into account for the overall over-rate — resulting in a points penalty in the World Test Championship standings.
The threshold is currently 80 after it was increased from 60 following the 2023 Ashes.
And Australia will get docked World Test Championship points if they go over, with Smith’s time wasting now set to potentially affect things.
There’s more drama in the Aussie camp, too, with spinner Nathan Lyon fuming after being left out of the Second Test.
He said: “I’m absolutely filthy (angry) but I can’t do anything about it. So I’ll just try to help get the guys ready and do whatever I can to make sure that we get the right result.
“I haven’t sat down with Ronnie (team coach Andrew McDonald) or George (Bailey, chief selector). I’m letting things settle down in my own head.”
Eze Chidiebere Paul
I'm dedicated to creating high-quality content that informs, inspires, and delights. If you have any questions or suggestions, don't hesitate to get in touch. Happy reading!
