England punished and hit with fine after beating Australia in fifth Ashes Test
England and Australia have both been fined following dramatic Ashes series
PA
England have been hit with a huge World Test Championship points penalty, as well as a big fine, following the recent Ashes series.
The hosts have been docked 19 points for maintaining a slow over rate in multiple Test matches, which is as many as all teams combined in the 2021-23 series.
England and Australia's epic battles were thrilling to watch this summer, with both sides helping to boost the popularity of the sport.
But the pace of the game was often scrutinised and, now, England have paid the price.
England star Ben Stokes praised his side after Australia Ashes win
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Australia have been punished, too, though were docked 10 points with England's total far higher.
The hosts were docked two points Edgbaston, nine at Lord’s, three at Old Trafford, and five at The Oval.
Under the previous system, Australia would likely have faced an even stricter punishment.
But a new rule, which was brought in mid-series after lobbying from Usman Khawaja, has helped them escape a similar fate to England.
Thresholds for when a bowling team can be penalised have been increased from 60 overs per innings to 80 overs per innings.
It has also been raised from 120 overs per game to 160 overs per game, providing the opposition bats twice.
England didn't bat 160 overs in any of their five Ashes Tests this summer.
Under the old regime, Australia could have faced potential penalties at The Oval, Edgbaston and Lord's - with England facing between 120 and 160 overs in each of those Tests.
Yet even though they've only been deducted 10 points, Khawaja still expressed his unhappiness on social media.
He took to Twitter to say: “Don’t even get the chance to bowl in the second innings at Manchester due to 2 days of rain and ICC still issue fines and take 10 WTC points of us for slow over rates! That makes a lot of sense."
Meanwhile, regarding the match itself, England skipper Ben Stokes praised his side and claimed the series ending 2-2 was a fair result.
"[We] feel really good. 2-2 is a fair reflection at the end of the series," he said. "Australia, WTC champions, absolute quality team.
"Don't think many teams would've been able to respond like we did after being 2-0 down. Very proud of the entire team and the effort they put in.
“Having played a lot of cricket here, you know what it's like in the fourth innings. Australia played really well yesterday but turning up here and knowing that you still need 250 runs is really tough.
"The wickets came in clusters like they usually do. Our mentality was great."
And Stokes also hopes the recent series will inspire the next generation, too.
“What a series this has been. We've been very vocal about keeping Test cricket alive," he added.
"This series has been amazing, it's attracted so many new fans. It's the purest form of the game and I absolutely love it.
"It's hard to lose an appetite when you love Test cricket as much as I do."
Australia skipper Pat Cummins, however, was disappointed that his side couldn't win the urn outright.
"2-2 seems fair and it was a wonderful series," said Cummins.
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England have been punished for bowling too slowly following Ashes series with Australia
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"It was two high-quality teams. It seemed like every session we shared the honours.
"From the start we said we were over here to win the Ashes.
"We can be hugely proud of retaining the Ashes - it's no easy feat against a high-quality England in their own conditions - but of course we wanted to come over here and win.
"It is a similar group to 2019 [when the series also finished 2-2] and we just fell a little bit short of the goal."
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