Fines Won’t Work, Players Are Too Wealthy, Says Vaughan on Slow Over-Rate Issue

Former England captain Michael Vaughan has voiced strong criticism over the slow over-rate during the Lord’s Test between India and England. He believes that fining players is ineffective and that mandating 90 overs per day would restore pace to the game.

On the first day of the Lord’s Test, only 83 overs were bowled, followed by an even slower 75 overs on the second day. This shortfall of 22 overs compared to the required 180 over two days drew sharp criticism from Vaughan. He argues that monetary penalties do little to address the persistent issue of slow over-rates, as players are financially well-off. The International Cricket Council (ICC) has introduced measures like the stop-clock rule in the ongoing Test Championship cycle to tackle this problem. Under this rule, the fielding team must be ready to start a new over within one minute of the previous over’s completion. Failure to comply results in two warnings from the umpires, followed by penalties. Despite this, the India-England Test saw significant time wastage. Vaughan pointed out that slow over-rates have long plagued Test cricket. For instance, in January, Pakistan was fined 25% of their match fee for slow over-rates against South Africa, while England, led by Ben Stokes, faced a 15% fine in December. However, Vaughan believes such fines have little impact due to players’ wealth. *Former England Captain Michael Vaughan. Photo: AFP* Speaking to *BBC Sports*, Vaughan said, “I don’t think fining players will solve anything. These players are very wealthy, and monetary penalties don’t seem to affect them. Slow over-rates are a longstanding issue in Test cricket. I understand it’s been hot, and there have been injuries, but on the fifth day, teams always manage to bowl 90 overs. Why can’t this happen on the first four days? On the fifth day, players, umpires—everyone knows 90 overs must be completed. There’s no dawdling, fewer drinks breaks, because everyone knows the target. I’d make it simple: mandate 90 overs every day. I’m certain this would bring back the pace to the gam