What is Slow Over Rate Penalty in World Test Championship (WTC)?

Test cricket has become a bit more exciting with the inception of the World Test Championship (WTC) in 2019. The championship has added more context to every Test played by the participating teams, with WTC points at stake.

The nine Test teams aim to clinch the WTC mace after every two-year cycle, bagging maximum points. But slow over rate penalties incurred during matches may derail their campaign.

So what is the slow over rate penalty in WTC? And why does the ICC impose it on teams?

Here’s an explainer on the slow over rate penalty imposed in WTC.

But before we look at the penalty, let’s understand the meaning of slow over rate.

Slow Over Rate in Test Cricket

For starters, a Test match has five playing days. And on each day, teams need to bowl a minimum of 90 overs across three sessions.

So the per session count comes down to 30 overs, while the per hour requisite is 15 overs. And as per ICC regulations, teams need to send down a minimum of 15 overs per hour to maintain the over rate.

If a team fails to bowl 15 overs in an hour, then the match referee slaps a slow over rate penalty on the whole team, along with players. The players may have to shell out a percentage of their match fee as the penalty.

But when it comes to the WTC, teams incur penalties apart from the monetary fines.

So what is the slow over rate penalty in WTC?

Once the match is over, umpires submit a final report to the match referee, which includes the over rate maintained by teams. If teams fail to meet the minimum criteria after certain time allowances, then the ICC docks WTC points from the team’s total points as a penalty.

The bowling sides get a bit of leeway when time is lost due to player injuries, fall of wickets, player or umpire referrals, and delays from batting sides. Even after this, if a team falls short of the minimum over rate, they lose one WTC point for each delayed over.

So for instance, New Zealand and England fell short of the minimum requirement by three overs in the 2024 Christchurch Test, which resulted in the ICC deducting three WTC points each from their tallies.

But why does the ICC impose a slow over rate penalty?

The answer is pretty simple. The global cricketing body wants teams to finish matches within a fixed timeline.

With WTC matches having significant points up for grabs, a team may intentionally bowl slow to change the outcome of a match. To prevent teams from using such tactics, the ICC imposes slow over rate penalties.

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