ICC, cricket’s apex body, heavily punished the England cricket team after the second Test of the three-match series against New Zealand.
The ICC docked 12 points from England’s World Test Championship tally for the having a slow over rate in the fixture. The home team was 12 overs short of the target. Following the deduction, England have 38 points and they sit in the seventh position in the WTC points table. Their points percentage has dropped to 26.38 from 34.72. The defeat and the 12-point penalty have come as a big blow to England.
Led by Joe Root, England suffered a 253-run defeat in the fixture. Opting to bowl first after winning the toss, England leaked 391 runs and managed to score 291 in their first innings, conceding a 100-run lead.
NZ breached the 300-run mark again and scored 362 runs, setting a target of 463. England were bowled out for 209, losing the game by 253 runs. Root scored a total of 123 runs in the fixture, thus completing 14000 runs in Test cricket.
Ben Stokes has made his return to the Test squad for the third and final game of the series as the captain. Root will play under him once again. Gus Atkinson has also been recalled. Both players weren’t selected for the second Test in the aftermath of the nightclub incident.
ECB issues statement
The England Cricket Board issued a statement on Ben and Gus Atkinson as they made their returns in the Test team. “Ben Stokes and Gus Atkinson have been included in the England Men’s squad for the third Rothesay Test against New Zealand following the conclusion of an ECB disciplinary hearing in relation to their conduct in the early hours of Monday 8 June.Stokes and Atkinson were found to have breached specific contractual obligations that require England players to at all times maintain the highest standards of conduct and act in the best interests of England cricket,” ECB said.
“In addition to not being considered for selection for the second Rothesay Test, they have both been given a written warning as to their conduct.It was also concluded that no blame should be attached to the players for violent conduct at the nightclub.Stokes was not involved in the altercation and did not witness either incident.The evidence the ECB has seen demonstrates that Atkinson was the victim of unprovoked attacks and did not retaliate on either occasion,” the board added in its statement.