England penalised by ICC, drop places in WTC 2025-27 points table

England, who rose to second spot in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2025–27 standings after a successful outing against India in the third Test at Lord’s, have dropped to third spot after being penalised for a slow over rate in the match. The ICC docked England two WTC points and fined the players 10 per cent of their match fees following the breach. 

 

The deduction saw England's tally drop from 24 to 22 points, with their points percentage (PCT) falling from 66.67% to 61.11%. As a result, Sri Lanka moved up to second place with a 66.67% PCT, behind table-toppers Australia, who remain unbeaten with a perfect 100% record from three matches. India, after their 22-run loss at Lord’s, are placed fourth with a 33.33% PCT. 

 

England captain Ben Stokes accepted the sanction without contest, avoiding the need for a formal hearing. The charge was levelled by on-field umpires Paul Reiffel and Sharfuddoula Ibne Shahid, with support from third umpire Ahsan Raza and fourth umpire Graham Lloyd.

How does slow over rate affect the WTC points system?

As per Article 2.22 of the ICC Code of Conduct, players are fined five per cent of their match fee for every over if their side fails to bowl in the allotted time. Under WTC playing conditions (Article 16.11.2), one championship point is deducted per over short. Match referee Richie Richardson, after the game, confirmed that England were two overs short of the target after considering time allowances.

 

Updated WTC 2025–27 points table:

 

Teams	M	W	L	T	D	N/R	PT	PCT
Australia	3	3	0	0	0	0	36	100.00
Sri Lanka	2	1	0	0	1	0	16	66.67
England	3	2	1	0	0	0	22	66.67
India	3	1	2	0	0	0	12	33.33
Bangladesh	2	0	1	0	1	0	4	16.67
West Indies	3	0	3	0	0	0	0	0.00
New Zealand	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Pakistan	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
South Africa	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-