Australia Test captain Tim Paine has said that the match referees should show more consistency when imposing points penalties for slow over-rates.
Australia was docked points in the second Test in Melbourne against India for slow over-rate and due to the said deduction and their decision to not travel to South Africa for a Test series due to COVID concerns, resulted in not making 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.
‘Important that he takes time to get it right’, Tim Paine asks Steve Smith to not rush injury return
Paine, while opining on the penalty imposed around slow over-rate, 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 haven'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."
Despite Paine’s so-so record as Test captain, he has been retained by CA for the upcoming one-off Test against Afghanistan and then the Ashes 2021-22 against England at home.
"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.
(ANI inputs)
