Officials need to be consistent while imposing fines for slow over-rates, feels Paine

Hobart - Australia saw its points being deducted in the second Test in Melbourne against India for slow over-rate and this played a crucial role in the side not being able to make the finals

Australia Test captain Tim Paine on Monday urged the match referees to show consistency when imposing points penalties for slow over-rates.

Australia saw its points being deducted in the second Test in Melbourne against India for slow over-rate and this played a crucial role in the side not being able to make the finals of the inaugural World Test Championship (WTC).

“Bitterly disappointed that we weren’t there because of over rates. We’ve always got things in place to try to help out with that, but unfortunately, it doesn’t always work. Unfortunately, we’re the team that I think has borne the brunt of it for an over-rate,” Sydney Morning Herald quoted Paine as saying.

“I think there’s been a lot of Test match cricket in the last two years where teams haven’t bowled their overs and I’m not sure how many teams lost points out of it. I think there needs to be a little bit more consistency around it, given now that the prize is so big and a couple of overs can cost you four points,” he added.

Further talking about the penalty imposed around slow over-rate, Paine said: “We were behind on our overs, and that’s what it is. My thing is just with the consistency. I haven’t played in too many days where the full overs have been bowled, and to my knowledge there hasn’t been other teams docked points. Yeah, it’s a bitter pill to swallow when you’re the only team that’s been docked points and you see it happen Test match after Test match, after Test match.”

New Zealand defeated India in the finals of the WTC to win the Test mace. Australia finished in third place in the standings, behind India and New Zealand.

“I didn’t watch too much of it. I watched the last day. I turned it on excited to watch the first day. I thought I was excited, and then got a bit dirty and didn’t watch it,” Paine said.

“I tuned in for the last day and it was bloody exciting, it was great cricket to watch,” he added.

Australia will square off against England in the Ashes later this year. Before the Ashes, Australia will also play one-off Test against Afghanistan in November.

“The hunger is certainly there to play more Test matches. The excitement levels within the playing group are very high at the moment, knowing we’ve got a couple to play instead of just a one-off,” said Paine.