Former England pacer Steven Finn criticised Australia captain Steve Smith for time-wasting towards the end of day one of the second Ashes 2025/26 Test.
With Joe Root scoring his first century Down Under, England were in a great position in the last hour of play at the Gabba, with four wickets still in the bank. But as the visitors lost Will Jacks, Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse in the space of two overs, and more than 13 overs still left to get to the 80-over mark to activate the over-rate penalty clause, Australia captain Steve Smith took his sweet time in the field to ensure the hosts wouldn't have to face a new pink ball under the lights.
Spotting how Smith was delaying the proceedings, Finn said on TNT Sports:
“There's certainly a chance here that Steve Smith took a long time to set the field there, and he's ended up with everyone on the boundary. He’s now changing the field between balls, certainly, strikes me that this is a good time for Australia to be delaying things. Means that if this last wicket does fall, each minute that goes by, it's a minute that England won't have that bright pink ball in their hand in these conditions. The evening session, far harder to bat, especially when you're new to the crease.”
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Smith again tried to waste some precious time, perhaps realising this innings would not be taken into consideration for potential over-rate penalties if they bowl England out under 80 overs. Finn further said:
“And Smith just delaying things again. Definitely a tactic here, and the umpires should have a word with him. Every second that ticks by, Australia will have fewer seconds to bat this evening. Carey is now slowly taking his cap off and meandering up to the stumps. It really is obvious. Fielder's being moved 3 yards to the left, 3 yards to the right. Field all spread.”
But Root and Jofra Archer added an unbeaten 61 runs together in just 44 deliveries, and as it turned out, England finished the day at 325-9 in 74 overs, still leaving them with a chance to bat 80 overs in the innings.
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What do the playing conditions say about over-rate penalties?
Section 12.4.9.1 of the ICC Playing Conditions for men’s Tests states: “If the fielding team bowls out the batting team in 80 overs or less in any particular innings and the Minimum Over Rate requirement for that innings has not been exceeded (taking into account all of the time allowances described above), no account shall be taken of the actual over rate in that innings when calculating the actual over rate at the end of such Match.”
This means, with respect to the Brisbane Test, that if Australia manage to bowl out England in under 80 overs in this innings, despite their time-wasting tactics and slow over-rate, this innings will not be considered when accounting for the overall over-rate for the match. Moreover, if the bowling side dismisses the opposition in both innings in under 160 overs, there will not be any sanctions imposed on them with regard to the over rate.
Historically, over rates were calculated for innings lasting longer than 60 overs, but Usman Khawaja’s lobbying during the 2023 Ashes saw the threshold increased to 80 overs; partly successful due to Khawaja’s relationship with ICC general manager Wasim Khan. As it turned out, England were docked 19 World Test Championship points after that series, compared to Australia’s nine.
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