England hit with massive, unprecedented 19-point World Test Championship penalty for Ashes over rates

England Cricket Team has lost 19 points, which is more than the 16 points that were lost by all countries in the World Test Championship from 2019 to 2021.

Even though the series will be remembered as one of the most exciting and close-fought Test rubbers in history, the speed of play was a topic of talk the whole time. Australia was also given a penalty of 10 points, even though they only lost one match, at Old Trafford.

At Edgbaston, England lost two points, at Lord's, they lost nine, at Old Trafford, they lost three, and at the Kia Oval, they lost five.

Usman Khawaja from Australia worked hard to get a new rule added in the middle of the series. This rule was crucial in reducing Australia's penalty. The minimum number of overs a bowling team must bowl before they can be punished has gone up from 60 to 80 per innings and from 120 to 160 per game if the other team bats twice.

This summer, England didn't bat for 160 overs in any of the five Tests. However, even though England only played once at Old Trafford, Australia still had a chance to win because England only batted once.

Under the old system, Australia could have been fined at the Kia Oval, Edgbaston, and Lord's because England had to bat for between 120 and 160 overs in each Test.

Khawaja is still not happy, though, that his team got any kind of punishment. "I didn't even get to bowl in the second innings at Manchester because it rained for two days, and the ICC still fined us and docked us 10 WTC points for slow over rates! He wrote, "That makes a lot of sense."

With 12 points for a win and 4 points for a tie in each WTC Test, England's series total dropped from 28 points to just 9. Australia, on the other hand, finished with 18 points. If England had lost 4-1 but kept a good over rate, they would have finished with 12 points, which is three more than they have now.

Heavy fines have also been given to both sides. Australia's match fee for the Old Trafford Test has been cut by 50%, while England's has been cut by 5% for every over they were short.