England cop staggering $300,000 fine over 'horrible' Ashes farce
The full extent of England's monetary fine for slow over rates in the first Ashes Test has come to light, with players copping a whopping $300,000 in fines.
The tourists were fined their entire match fees and also lost five World Test Championship points for tardy over rates in their loss to Australia at the Gabba.
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Veteran cricket journalist Robert Craddock has since revealed that England players receive $27,000 for every Test they play, meaning the team's total fines came in around $300,000.
“There were so many fieldsmen running on with helmets and towels and everything,” Craddock said on the 'Follow On' podcast on Tuesday.
“I have to say, there were a couple of days in there which were really exhausting … but just the collaboration between overs, the wasting of the time on basic field placement was terrible.
“And it cost them dearly. They get paid $27,000 each a Test, and they lost the lot. That’s a collective fine of about $300,000.”
Craddock said the debacle might force England to retain under-fire spinner Jack Leach rather than playing five seam bowlers in the second Test in Adelaide.
“It puts them in a prison for the team they are selecting for Adelaide,” he said.
“How could you lose all your match fee, five World Cup points and then not choose a spinner in a game for Adelaide?
"It’s putting so much pressure on them to choose Jack Leach again, this horrible over-rate in Brisbane. It’s interesting where they go from here.”
Joe Root vows to improve slow over rates
Joe Root's side was five overs short of their target after time allowances were taken into consideration, with match referee David Boon imposing the sanction.
"When we're that far behind the over rate, you have got to take it (sanctions)," Root said.
"But we have to be quicker, we all know that. We want the game to be moving forward all the time and we don't want it to be slowed down."
Root, who pledged a quicker rate in the second Test starting on Thursday, said England's limited lead-in to the series-opener was a factor in at the Gabba.
"I am not trying to make excuses but I think with the lack of preparation it was probably a little bit more challenging for an English team coming into this heat and these conditions," he said.
"Not being ready for that made it a little bit trickier for us as a bowling group but we still have to be quicker.
"We have been stung not just financially, but the thing that hurt most was the points - losing those points, that's a lot of points."
Under the ICC's system, 12 points are awarded for a Test win, four for a draw and six for a tie - therefore a five-Test series will have a total of 60 points available and a two-Test series a maximum of 24.
"When you play longer series like we do generally within the Test championship - we generally play three, four, five match series - losing chunks of points like that can really hurt you," Root said.
"There are certain things that you can manage as captain - that is one thing that you always have to give the responsibility to the rest of the team as well, it can't just sit on your shoulders.
"But obviously ultimately it does fall on me."
with AAP
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