Boycott urges ICC to clamp down on teams

Johannesburg: England legend Geoffrey Boycott has urged the International Cricket Council (ICC) to take stronger action on teams for scoring extremely slow over-rates, following England`s similar `borefest` on the second day of the fifth and final Ashes Test against Australia at The Oval.

According to Sport24, although England may have already won the series at 3-0 up, they have come under fire in the final Test, with captain Alastair Cook setting excessively defensive fields even when Australia`s tailenders were on strike. The report further said that teams are meant to bowl 15 overs an hour under the ICC regulations governing Test cricket, and can be fined if they fail to follow the rule with their captain banned from matches for repeat offences, although the rules give scope for officials to apply `allowances` for third umpire referrals and injuries. However, Boycott said that the ICC rarely clamped down on slow over-rates and urged them to take stronger action, adding that most leading teams were serial offenders when it suited them. Boycott further said that a deliberate slow over-rate is not good for the game, adding that the ICC and the umpires are at fault for not defusing the situation. According to Boycott, the field placing was disappointing, adding that even though England was aware that Australia was going to declare, they played `poor cricket` by bowling five overs in half an hour. ANI