LONDON: OVER the last decade or so, Test cricket has had to address several issues at once. First, there is the never-ending debate about its perceived health, or the lack thereof. Second, the problem of slow over-rate.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) have time and again tried to govern the problem — captains being banned seemed to work but they lifted that in 2019 — without a suitable solution.
In the World Test Championship (WTC) era, they have resorted to docking crucial points but this also hasn't helped. In fact, England, if anything, have doubled down. New Zealand were docked points for the same thing at the end of 2024.
The issue of slow overrate has reared its head in the heat of England over the course of the first three Tests. At the ongoing one at Lord's 32 overs were lost in the first three days alone. Day One only after 83 overs were bowled. The next two days turned out to be even shorter (Day 2 72.3 overs; Day 3: 77.2 overs). Even taking into context various stoppages for injuries, unscheduled drinks break to counter the heat of London and various stoppages for ball, it's a touch too much. And add to that the money fans are paying to watch a full day's play of 90 overs.
This, of course, is a problem across teams and continents. On the first day of the ongoing D/N Test against West Indies and Australia on Saturday, 10 overs were lost in Jamaica.
England's bowling coach, Tim Southee, said: "It's never ideal, I don't think, but it's obviously been hot so there's been probably more drinks than usual. There's been a number of stoppages with the ball also, and DRS takes its time... But yeah, to lose that much, it's probably at the extreme level."
It's extreme, like Southree says. But there are multiple factors at play. The biggest factor to consider is that Tests have never been more exciting and more result-oriented than they are now. Despite slow over-rates there have been results. If anything, teams are prioritising the match situation and continuing with their best bowlers — pacers, in this context — rather than spinners to get through overs quickly. There is a corelation because a lot of these infringements tend to happen in countries where spin is not a dominant bowling type.
With a lot of pace at both ends in hot conditions, slow over-rate becomes an automatic byproduct. Stokes' argument (the captain has refused to sign over-rate sheets for well over a year but it's not yet known if he's signing on the dotted line this series) is they are producing results so slow over-rates are redundant in the larger scheme of things. At some level, that's also missing the point because England have been responsible for over a quarter of all over-rate penalties in the WTC era.
Because there are provisions in the rules for that. If a team is bowled out in fewer than 80 overs, there are no penalties. If a team loses 20 wickets across 160 overs, again there are no offences for slow over-rate offences. To curb it further, the ICC introduced the concept of penalty runs and stop clocks to try and police the issue but they have taken cognisance of various external factors at play during the ongoing series; it's why they haven't enforced it.
Then, there's the issue of fans not getting a full day's worth of cricket after paying five figure sums (in INR). But, then again, they aren't entitled to 90 overs just because they paid vast sums. As long as the weather is fine, one can argue that they are paying for a full days' play (six hours and the 30 additional minutes) and they are getting that.
"It's hot out there," said Jasprit Bumrah at the end of Day Two when he was asked about it. "It's tough on the bowlers. Sometimes you have to take your time because you don't want your quality to be compromised. You don't want to be too rushed." As the players walked off the field after an enthralling Sunday, quick research confirmed that overs were again lost.